Fool For Her
by Sepharih
Summary: What if there was a gap in the story Spike told in "Fool For Love? What if the tale he told was only half of the true story to keep from reliving painfull memories. Buffy Underworld crossover Chapter 6 Finnally up
1. Chapter 1

First things first, the Legal part.  
  
This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
===============================================================  
  
Notes:  
  
This is just for those who are interested in why I'm writing this (If your not just skip this part).  
  
I saw Underworld a few months ago and now that Buffy is over and Spike has returned as a regular on Angel (Thank you God!) I've desperately been trying to find a way to bring the two together. They don't mesh together very well unfortunately mostly do to the fact that Len Wiseman when writing it focused more on science than mysticism, and unfortunately Buffy is the opposite. In Underworld if it's something incredible it has to have scientific basis. Buffy on the other hand more often than not simple says "Your on a Hellmouth, stuff like this happens."  
  
In Underworld vampires have reflections, don't need invites, aren't affected by crosses or holy water, (I'm going to assume the stake thing is universal). In Buffy all these things do apply. I could have changed the physics of one universe to fit the other, or changed both. However I wanted my story to mesh with the stories of both the show and the film as much as possible, so I tried to avoid change where I could.   
  
Instead I'm using the World of Darkness, specifically Vampire the Masquerade, to explain why they are so different. It is mentioned in the books that there may be vampire clans besides the known 13 so I decided to create two new clans.   
  
The Aurelians, who are Spike's, Angel's and pretty much every Vampire in the Buffyverse's clan (With the exception of Dracula). I got the idea after hearing the master's posse was called the order of Aurelius. So basically you assume that Aurelius was the founder of the most numerous vampire clan in the world.   
  
The name for the clan in Underworld is still not decided, feel free to send me suggestions, I'll give you credit.  
  
There will not be that much WOD influence in this story, it's only there because it works to explain inconsistencies.  
  
I think that I've successfully managed to sort out any problems that might arise in the story do to inconsistencies but I'm far from infallible. If I make any mistakes please email me so I can correct them. I recognize that the time frame I'm working in is extremely delicate so please help me make it fit.  
  
Update notes 04/29/04:  
  
Thanks to Bairck for correcting a spelling error, the clan founder is Aurelius, not Aurrallius.  
  
Update notes 05/10/04:  
  
Major Rewrite of chapter 1. After seeing episode 108 of Angel "The Girl In Question" I realized that this story would actually fit better after that episode, especially since due to all the spoilers I've read there is going to be a fairly large gap in episode 109. Spike's grieving over the loss of Buffy and Fred already, and yet another girl who got away shows up.  
  
My apologies for changing the timeline but it really just makes more sense this way, and the ending will be that much better I think.  
  
One more thing, I'm still listening for a good name to call the Vampire clan in Underworld. Chapter 3 is probably going to mention it so I need something to put in there.  
  
===============================================================  
  
Fool For Her  
  
Chapter 1  
  
London  
  
London  
  
2004 A.D.  
  
"It's been too long." Spike thought. After his and Angel's personal/business trip to Italy, Angel decided it was time to take a break, recover from things as it were. Seeing Buffy again had been hard enough, but the fact that she was with "The Immortal" was just, wrong…!  
  
Even though neither of them had actually spoken to her while they were there they had both been unnerved at being that close to her. To their dismay however, she had moved on long ago. Adding that to the open wound that was Fred's death and everyone really needed a vacation by now. Although Spike was about the only one taking one. Wesley was to busy taking care of Illeriya to take a few days off. Gunn was still "repenting" for what he did to Fred and felt he didn't deserve to have any rest. Lorn enjoyed his job too much to take a vacation; the bugger stopped sleeping at one point just so he could work more!  
  
And as for Angel, well vacationing was about the same as a normal off day for him. Just himself, the expensive designer threads, and a bloody dark corner to brood in. Spike however was not going to waste company vacation time when it was given. The first notice he got he chartered a private Wolfram and Hart Jet straight to London where he proceeded to his favorite demon pub, "Gehena Now!", and lost himself in a glass of hard liquor.   
  
Spike supposed he could have just as easily gone to a demon bar in LA, but he really needed this. It had been ages since he'd been in the motherland and he desperately needed something familiar to hold on to at the moment. He needed to be around other Brits……who weren't former watchers. Besides, there were certain perks in European demon pubs that most demon bars in the States wouldn't allow.  
  
"YOU BLOODY BASTARD!!!" Spike heard a man scream from one of the tables behind him. He turned to see two large blue demons engaged in a brawl. Only about three blows were exchanged before all hell (No pun intended) broke loose.  
  
Unlike most demon bars in the States, European pubs typically didn't have anti aggression spells. Half the fun of being in a bar was the bar fighting Spike thought. And tonight was a good night, this latest brawl made three tonight.  
  
Spike eagerly hopped off the stool leaving his drink for the moment and got ready. By now everyone in the pub was either ducking for cover or engaged in a fight. No one but the two blue demons even knew what the argument was about, but it gave everyone an excuse to vent their frustrations. Or in Spike's case, to have some fun!  
  
A stupid five foot four green demon charged him. One punch was all Spike needed to send the ponce flying across the room. That was all it took though to make Spike a higher target. A larger half rock demon charged him then. Spike casually exchanged fisticuffs with the seven foot monster before kicking him into the wall.  
  
Two dark skinned tentacled demons, probably brothers, attacked him together. He made quick work of them by kicking one in the gut and punching the other in its soft face. A devilish grin played on his face the whole time he did this. "NOW THIS IS A VACATION!!!" He thought excitedly. Spike lived for stuff like this. Suddenly a large heavy battle axe was swung at him and Spike found himself on a table with the blade pressing into his neck, he had caught it not a second too late. An orange furry demoness was the wielder, Spike was about to throw her off when a brown insect like one did it for him and tossed her across the room. Spike sat up and smiled at the demon.  
  
"Thanks mate!" Spike said,  
  
"Any time," The demon spoke with its pincers. "Let's go!" He Swung.  
  
Spike dodged the punch and tackled the demon to the floor, making quick work of him. This orgy lasted for a good thirty minutes before, finally, everyone calmed down and the fight stopped. Spike, like everyone else, knew that this was just a pause so that they could recover for the next senseless argument that would occur.  
  
Life was good. Not really……Life was bloody unbearable, but the night was proving standible.  
  
The Powers That Be had really screwed him over of late. The whole being an incorporeal vampire ghost was bad enough, but then Fred died. He had really liked her. He had liked her when he had first seen her. He didn't like her in the sense that he was interested in getting involved. But he liked her. She reminded him of Willow, only without the craziness and weirdness. Fred was just....well….sweet.  
  
He was sure the others were taking it harder, but Spike was grieving as well. She was a nice girl, and she sure as hell didn't deserve what had happened to her.  
  
Then, somehow Buffy had gotten involved with "The Immortal". Spike groaned. That damn pansy had done more to hurt his pride than Angel or Buffy ever had. And now he had waltz in like prince charming and taken the love of his unlife. Bloody bastard!  
  
With that thought spike downed another shot of hard liquor. "Bought time for another ring around." Spike thought, hoping some demon would start something, anything. It proved rather quiet after the last fight however and Spike was beginning to think about leaving.  
  
"Just gotta find myself a bird first." Spike thought sheepishly. Sure he loved Buffy, but if she was shagging the immortal there was hardly any reason he couldn't enjoy a one nighter. And as he understood it, she had been involved with the ponce long before his resurrection so she obviously hadn't put forth much effort in honoring his memory.  
  
"Besides," He reasoned, "I've gotta keep up my devilish charm." Spike grinned and began scanning the pub for a decent treat. He didn't expect to find anyone, after all Gehenna usually attracted the more ruggish demon types of London. Most Vampires weren't old or strong enough to hang around without getting dusted, so he doubted to find any lookers around. He'd probably have to go to a mortal pub to pick up a treat that was halfway decent. Spike made one more overview and caught something in his Vampiric vision. "Then again…." He thought as he caught a vision sitting across him on his right side at the end of the pub drinking some shots of whiskey like he was.  
  
"How the bleeding hell did I miss her!" Spike thought as he stared in awe of the vampire beauty. It took A LOT to get the stare that Spike was giving her.  
  
Ever since the seventies Spike had always gone with the Goth punk look, but to be totally honest he had never really preferred women with it. But for this girl, he'd make an exception. She had a short mane of messy, but strangely attractive, black hair. Even if her hair wasn't very flattering to her everything else certainly was!  
  
In contrast to her jet black hair her skin, with the exception of her soft supple pink lips, was alabaster pale. In many ways she looked like an oversized china doll. Her body was slim, but trim and athletic. The getup she wore was like something out of a dominatrix film. Tight leather corset, tight leather trousers and of course knee high black leather boots. And to top it all off she wore a long black leather frock coat.  
  
If anything could be centered out about her that made her so beautiful though it had to be her eyes. Dark and full of depth, their curved shape was such and addition to her face it almost made Spike drool. Without her eyes she would have been very cute. But it was because of them that she was positively hot!  
  
Spike tried to make use of his honed senses to smell her from where he sat, and he realized he could. But it was different from his own vampire sent. Spike was old enough and educated enough in vampire lore to understand what it meant. Contrary to what most slayers were taught there was more than one vampire type.  
  
The Aurelian line, of which Spike and Angel were a part of, however was the only real line that could be considered truly evil, that and the fact that it was the most numerous line made it the ideal vampire type of study. Plus they were the only one's who felt a distinct draw towards the Hellmouth.  
  
She obviously wasn't a part of Aurelius' line. Perhaps the Brujah line, she did have the goth punk look. Although with her dark good looks she could have been Toreador. Perhaps the paleness of her skin was hinting at Lasombra? Then again perhaps it was an entirely different line, they were showing up a great deal lately.  
  
One way or another Spike was quite sure that he could show the girl what she wanted. If she was Toreador he'd play off his cherubic face. If she was Brujah he'd show her how a real blood hunt went down. Either way he intended to take this dark beauty home with him.   
  
Spike stood up and strolled over to her seat with his trademark strut. As he sat down the girl looked up at him and Spike watched with fascination as her eyes faded from chestnut brown, to icy blue. She bared her fangs and made it clear she was not interested with a growl. Spike smiled and said,  
  
"Wow, that's a scary look you got there luv. But you know what," Spike felt his brow furrow into its demonic shape. He felt his eyebrows disappear making his scar more prominent as his game face took over. Feeling his fangs elongate and his eyes shift to yellow he continued, "I've got a scarier one." The girl was taken aback, but quickly recovered and bared her fangs again.  
  
"You're an Aurelian!" She spat at him. Spike smiled, still in game face,  
  
"Ah come on now bird, were all decent vampires here." The girl growled at him again.  
  
"Your kind are an abomination to all vampires. Ever feeding, never satisfied with blood that isn't fresh. You don't even have souls!" Spike laughed, which threw her off slightly. The girl continued to glare at him. "What's so funny?" Spike answered her,  
  
"I suggest you look a little closer luv, you might find something interesting." The girl wasn't convinced but saw no reason not to check. She looked into his eyes closely, checking, analyzing. After about half a minute she recognized what he was talking about. It was there! The spark! Her eyes shifted back to chestnut brown.  
  
"That's impossible, your kind don't have souls…unless," there was a pause. "Are you…?" another pause. Spike smiled, so she had heard of him, he stayed in game face to heighten the tension. The girl looked at his face and whispered,  
  
"Angelus?" Spike's eyes burned with hatred!  
  
"Bloody Hell woman, do I look like a bleeding git who sits in a dark corner feeling sorry for himself all day!?!" The girl stayed calm in his outburst.  
  
"Forgive me but I know of only one Aurelian with a soul." Spike scoffed.  
  
"Bloody Hell. I swear, who dies saving the world? Me! Who seals the doorway to hell and destroys an army of Uber Vamps? Me! But who gets all the fame and fortune? Brooding, Boring, tall and dark Angel that's who! Meanwhile Big Bad Spike winds up with the leftovers." The girl visibly hesitated, but finally smiled. Spike liked it and forgot he was still in game face. The girl drank another shot and said,  
  
"What kind of a name is Spike, your parents obviously didn't miss the sixties?" A joke even, Spike was starting to like this. Although he realized it was also a disguised way of asking how old he was as a vampire.  
  
"For your information I was made in 1880, so I'm probably your senior, and I wasn't always called Spike." The girl suddenly had a look of shock on her face and looked at him closely, smelling him carefully.  
  
"It can't be!" She thought, silently sniffing him. Suddenly her eyes lit up and her mouth dropped. She whispered disbelievingly,  
  
"William?" Spike smiled still staying in game face. Usually he didn't tolerate the use of his mortal name, but he could allow it just once.  
  
"So you have heard of me luv. Heard about my run-ins with the Slayers? How about Skrymir--" The girl cut him off abruptly.  
  
"William it's me, Selene……don't your recognize me?" Spike quickly shut his trap. He stared closely. Her hair was the right color, although it was shorter. Her skin was paler than humanly possible so that didn't help, the biggest stretch was the outfit, although spike had to admit long leather coats weren't really his style in the 1800's either. The lips and nose were the same, but it was again the eyes that settled it. He had looked before, but now that their normal color was back he could see through her. It was her, she was here!  
  
Spike felt his face return to normal. His Cherubic features came back quickly.  
  
They stared at each other for a few moments without saying anything. Spike finally broke the silence.  
  
"Bugger." Was all he could think of to say.  
  
================================================================================ 


	2. Chapter 2

First things first, the Legal part.  
  
This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
===============================================================  
  
Notes:  
  
Hey thanks for the reviews. I have several chapters written already, but finding the time to type and edit them is going to cause delays occasionally. The name for the Clan in Underworld is still being thought over, email me if you have any ideas. Well on to part two.  
  
===============================================================  
  
Fool For Her  
  
Chapter 2  
  
London  
  
1880 A.D.  
  
The ball was lovely or at least William thought so. The Victorian manor that it was held at was very spacious and there were surely some hundred guests invited. As always whilst everyone else was frolicking and dancing in the room's center he sat in the corner writing his poetry.  
  
His garments were wrinkled as always, mostly from lack of changing them. He couldn't afford a full wardrobe, or servants to wash them. William was a well educated young man, and of noble birth, but the majority of his meager fortune went towards his mother. Truthfully had it not been for his noble origins he would be a pauper.  
  
Not that he blamed his mother. It was hardly her fault that her health was on the decline. It hurt him to think of her present condition, she rarely had any energy and more often than not was bed ridden.  
  
William was hoping to see Cecily at the party. Not two days ago she had said that he was, "beneath her", but even still he had hopes. He had been heart broken at the time of course, but after going home and feeling sorry for himself he decided that it was no reason to give up. That and a pep talk from his mum and he was back on the saddle as it were. Still, however it looked as though she wasn't going to make an appearance tonight, or if she had she had already retired.  
  
William sighed. He supposed she never would love him, but until she chose a suitor he would not give up. It would have been nice to see her tonight, her beauty would calm his nerves. He was having a annoyingly large amount of difficulty with the current line he was writing.  
  
"What's another word that rhymes with Cecily?" he thought and wondered. William closed his eyes and sat back in his chair, deep in thought when suddenly he heard a sweet playful voice say,  
  
"Dance with me!" William opened his eyes to see the loveliest entity his vision had ever seen. Her long dark hair was done up and tied in a courtly bun. The white dress she wore accentuated her fine neckline and sharp features. A pair of chestnut eyes stared at him with a smile that for a moment made him completely forget Cecily. Her words rang in his ears, but being the reticent and shy individual that he was he was certainly not going to try and compete with this beauty. He stuttered as he replied,  
  
"I'm sorry no, I'm not really in the mood for-" The young girl quickly cut him and practically tore him from his seat. "Hey!" he yallped. She teasingly answered,  
  
"That wasn't a request!" Suddenly she had drug him to the dance floor. There were hundreds of people surrounding them as they held together moving to the soft music. William was not accustomed to it. But for the first time he felt no pressure from all of those around him. All he was looking at while he was there were the two beautiful eyes starring back at him.  
  
"I'm Selene." What a beautiful name he thought. He told her this and she smiled at him.  
  
"William." He replied with half a breath. William was in pure and total bliss. Both of them began to loose all sense of time. Soon they both entered into a world of there own. Gone were the unknown strangers dancing around them. Gone was the dance floor itself. There was only the music, and each other.  
  
Suddenly reality came back when William felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Lord Griffith, one of the more elite nobles. "Why would he be speaking to me?" The answer came as quite a shock,  
  
"Would you kindly let me have my daughter back for a moment?" William looked at Selene suddenly understanding. She was the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in London!  
  
"As you wish my lord." William moved aside and looked at Selene one last time before leaving the dance floor. There was a hurt expression on her porcelain face. William went back to his corner and gathered his things but before sitting he found himself face to face with Griffith again. Griffith was a very large burly man, very tall especially for his time. His hard facial features were halfway hidden by the graying beard at his face. He was an extremely intimidating fellow. Selene was not with him. William looked to the dance floor and to his horror through the crowd caught sight of her in the arms of someone else.  
  
Lord Griffith spoke in a very gentlemanly but nonetheless cold manner.  
  
"Walk with me young William." William, not one to disobey his superiors followed suit as Griffith turned and began strolling the periphery of the dance floor. William walked at his side, but also a step behind. William asked,  
  
"What do you wish of me Lord Griffith?" The man casually replied,  
  
"I would like you to refrain from speaking to my daughter again young William." William looked at him with confusion.  
  
"Sir, you misunderstand. Your daughter asked me to dance." Lord Griffith suddenly stopped walking and gave him a glare before resuming his course,  
  
"No she didn't, and I suggest you remember that!" William of course understood what he meant but that hardly meant he had to resolve himself to his position so easily.  
  
"Sir, I hardly understand you. If your daughter requests me to dance then as a gentleman-" Lord Griffith cut him off,  
  
"You will tell her it is not your position. My daughter is a fine and respectable young woman. She will have many suitors and will consort and marry with someone of her own stature. Not someone beneath her." The last words out of his mouth killed any rebellious thoughts that might have remained in William.  
  
It was the exact same thing that Cecily had said, but this hurt so much more. The simple truth was that he had no argument against it, he was beneath her.  
  
He had nothing to offer her father to even have the chance at courting her.  
  
"Now then," Lord Griffith said, while straightening William's coat. "I believe we understand one another?" He walked away leaving William alone.  
  
William, heartbroken again, walked back to his table gathered his things, and left. There was nothing to say.  
  
No, that wasn't true he realized. There was plenty to say to Selene, but nothing he could.  
  
London  
  
2004 A.D.  
  
Back in the present, two vampires were looking at each other with wide eyes and open jaws. Selene's usually cold, expressionless face was dazed, shocked even. She began stuttering,  
  
"But…your…" Spike finished for her,  
  
"Dead. And…your…" Selene finished,  
  
"Alive." A billion questions and thoughts, mostly identical raced through both of their minds, but neither of them got a chance to say a single one.  
  
Through the door suddenly walked in a troupe of five leather clad vampires who all looked like rejects from the Matrix. Spike instantly recognized from the scent that they were from whatever clan Selene had become a part of.  
  
Suddenly all attention in the room was upon the new arrivals. Spike asked,  
  
"Friends of yours?" Suddenly they all caught sight of both Selene and Spike and all of them instantly without hesitation drew half a dozen semi automatic weapons from there leather attire. "Guess not." Spike thought.  
  
"GET HER!" One of the vampires yelled. Suddenly gunfire began spraying everywhere in their direction, but before the first shot was fired both Spike and Selene had already leapt over the pub and taken cover. Gun shots rang loud and reverberated throughout the pub and most of the demons who didn't have a butt load of pride had already fled, a brawl was one thing but a shootout was totally different. Those that had stayed were dealt with quickly and efficiently.  
  
Wood started getting shot everywhere around them as the bullets tore through, missing them by millimeters. Oddly enough Spike actually caught what looked like a blue splatter on a rather large piece of debris.  
  
"What the bleeding hell are they shooting at us? Paint balls?" Spike suspected it was more than that because he realized that it was difficult to look at the paint to long without it hurting his eyes. To his right Selene shouted over the pandemonium,  
  
"Ultra Violent rounds! The bullets have an irradiated fluid in them. If the liquid makes skin contact it will kill you as easily as the sun will!"  
  
"Well that's just peachy!" Spike commented, Who were these bloody bastards!  
  
"Any Ideas Luv?" Spike managed to ask over the sound of gunfire.  
  
Suddenly Selene pulled out two berretta pistols from the inside of her coat, stood, turned, and fired. Spike lifted his head just enough to watch two of the matrix dressed vampires fall to the ground and convulse before turning to dust in a haze of blue light. Spike watched in awe as she repeated the process again, but this time succeeded in dropping only one of the vampires.  
  
"What has she been doing in the last century!" Spike thought to himself as Selene ejected her magazines and reloaded. She attempted to kill the remaining three, but the vampires, finally realizing their exposed position had already taken cover behind the tables. Selene cursed in frustration,  
  
"Damn, I can't hit them from here and were losing our cover!" She was right Spike realized. The pub was now little more than scattered woodchips, frame, and glowing blue stains.  
  
"Any more guns?" Spike asked. Selene nodded and reached into her coat retrieving another pistol. A Desert Eagle.  
  
"Backup weapon." She explained. Spike nodded, took hold of the grip, and cocked it. Selene added, "It doesn't have UV rounds though, it has silver bullets and I'm out of extra clips. It won't kill them but it should stun them long enough for me to finish them off if you make a clean hit." Spike nodded. He waited for the vampires to fire off a few more shots before he made a move.  
  
Staying low he went around the side of the pub through the opening and as soon as he passed the threshold he leapt, turning on his side. He passed the cover of the tables the vampires were using and in mid jump lined them up in the crosshairs of the weapon and fired three quick shots, all of which succeeded in landing squarely in the chest of each vampire. They all collapsed to the ground at the same time Spike landed.  
  
Spike then watched in amazement as Selene waltzed over and fired three of her own shots, one into each head of the three vampires. They were all dust within seconds.  
  
Selene then looked at him with a look of bewilderment, then at the pub, then slowly at the remains of the vampires, tracking the path of his jump. Again she looked at him quizzically. Spike smirked,  
  
"What, so I've seen a couple John Woo flicks." Selene just sighed.  
  
Suddenly to the right, out of the corner of there eyes, they each saw another leather clad figure that they missed make a run for the door. They each fired but failed to hit him before he ran out. Selene cursed.  
  
"After him!" She yelled. Spike followed her as they ran outside but the vampire was already driving away by the time they reached the outside.  
  
"Damn." Selene snorted. "We have to get out of here, they'll bring reinforcements soon!" Selene turned but Spike grabbed her saying,  
  
"Whose they luv? Look I just got shot at and was nearly turned into a pile of dust. And how the Bleeding hell are you here, alive! Now I want some answers!" Selene yelled back at him,  
  
"There isn't time. Believe me I have questions to ask you but right now all you need to know is that they're trying to kill me and, now that you've helped me, you too. Now can we move, my sanctuary isn't far" Spike just replied,  
  
"Fair enough." Selene unlocked the sedan she had driven in while Spike started up the black Suzuki motorcycle he received as his severance for being at Wolfram and Hart. Spike grinned as the powerful motor sprang to life.  
  
As Selene closed the door to her car she commented, in a whisper,  
  
"What happened to him?"  
  
================================================================================  
  
So there's Part II. What did you think? 


	3. Chapter 3

First things first, the Legal part.  
  
This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
===============================================================  
  
HEY THERE! I'm really, really sorry about the lack of updates in a while. With finals, and the finding of a job, and the looking for a college, and worst of all the summer yard work, I've had no time to write at all. Finally I've merited a break it seems so I'm going to spend it continuing this story. I have no intention of abandoning this story! I've already got the whole thing mapped out on where I plan to take it, and what the theme of the story is, so don't worry about that. I just hope it turns out ok.  
  
I also did a sort of promotional poster with photoshop. I can't seem to put it in the page so look at my bio to find the URL and when you go there click on "Photoedits Posters" to find it if your interested.  
  
===============================================================  
  
Fool For Her  
  
Chapter 3  
  
London  
  
1880 A.D.  
  
William left the ball a broken man. Twice now his heart had been broken. He would have liked to take a carriage; as usual he opted instead to save his shillings for necessities, like food. So after a nearly an hour of walking, no mean feat in 19th century shoes, he arrived home. It was a gentleman's household but only just so. William had barley walked through the door when he heard his mothers ageing voice,  
  
"William, your back." William turned and saw her sitting in her chair reading, as she usually was when he came home. William smiled.  
  
"Hello mum," She smiled and gestured for him to come closer. Drawing up a chair from a small table he sat in front of her. In her youth his mother had been of great beauty, but do to the sickness, she had not aged well. The woman in front of him was but a fragment of her former glory. He banished such thoughts and began, "How are you feeling today?" She sighed, he was always concerned with her well being first.  
  
"Better today, I was actually able to go out for little while." William frowned,  
  
"Are you sure that's wise, I mean the doctors did say-" His mother said very frankly,  
  
"I'll be fine William, don't worry about your old mum, she's not leaving anytime soon." William smiled,  
  
"And it'll stay that way if I have anything to say about it." She smiled,  
  
"How was the party?" The fresh memory of Selene's face came to the surface of his mind. He decided not to tell his mother about her, for the same reasons he hadn't told her of Cecily's rejection. She was sick enough without trying to carry her son's pain also. No, that was his weight to carry.  
  
"It was a complete bore as usual. I honestly don't understand why you insist on me going. I could write my poetry so much better here in this house and watch over you more carefully while I worked-" suddenly and unexpectedly she made a comment which shocked William,  
  
"Don't let the rejection of one woman cause you to loose all hope my son." How did she always know? There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. William looked at the ground as he spoke,  
  
"I never told you about Cecily-" again she cut him off,  
  
"I know. I heard it from Mary. But for the life of me I can't understand why I didn't hear it from you first. Do you think so little of me William; that I couldn't help?" William shook his head.  
  
"That's not it at all." Calmly he tried to explain himself as she looked at him with a hurt expression. "You have enough to deal with besides my troubles mum. What with the sickness and the pain, you don't need my troubles to worry about also." His mother made a sigh,  
  
"Oh William, I'm the parent, not you. It's my job to share the pain, not yours. From now on, please talk to me, I gain strength by helping you."  
  
William made to leave,  
  
"Forgive me mum, but it's been a long walk home and I think I'll retire early tonight." She suddenly became very concerned, her son didn't typically leave her side so soon.  
  
"Are you feeling alright William?" He nodded and without further word left her to her reading. William enjoyed conversation with his mum, but not tonight. He had no desire to relive his pathetic imitation of a love life at the moment. He realized he was being rude to her, but there would be time to apologize in the morning. So after finding his room, he placed his journal on the small desk and without any further action collapsed into his bed.  
  
When morning came William groaned in tiredness. Even if it was dawn he was hardly prepared for another day. But he could not neglect his responsibilities. The first item at hand today however was to make an entry into his journal which he had neglected to do last night. So after a quick crawl to his desk he gathered the small bound book, found his pen and turned to the last entry he had made. As he was preparing to write however, William realized that the page before had an entry not in his handwriting. Curiously he glanced at it and recognized, of all things, Selene's signature! He began reading immediately!  
  
Dear William,  
  
My sincerest apologies for my father's rudeness. He means well for me, but he tends to forget at times that I mean well enough for myself. I'm sure that you and he will not converse long so I must write quickly. As a token of apology I would like you to accompany me at the Adelphi Theater. Meet me there at eleven tomorrow morning.  
  
Selene  
  
P.S.  
  
Don't be late, if you are I'll assume you are too upset and I'll go alone.  
  
It took William half a minute for his brain to begin functioning properly again, but once it did he immediately reached for his pocket watch and discovered that it was nearly ten! It was impossible to get to the Adelphi by foot now, and unlikely even by cab!  
  
He immediately hopped to his feet, flung the door open, grabbed his purse, and ran out. Down stairs he saw his mother sitting at the table eating a small serving of toast. Sitting with her was her friend Mary. As he ran down stairs his mother smiled and said,  
  
"Ah William, your up finally. Sit with us, Mary fixed some delicious-" William didn't stop his hurried gallop,  
  
"Sorry mum, I have to be off early today!" With that he ran out the door slamming it behind him. Mary and his mother were left in shock as the scene replayed in their minds. Mary chimed in,  
  
"Well I never! That was certainly rude. He almost completely ignored us. He didn't seem to have a care in the world what we thought. He didn't even bother to eat before leaving. What could be so important for him to just leave his sick mum and her friend as though they meant nothing?!?" William's mother smiled,  
  
"It must be love." She continued eating with renewed vigor.  
  
Outside William ran along the street in the general direction of the Adelphi until he was successful in hailing down a cabby. Dropping a generous amount into the drivers hand (his food money), he gave him the destination and told him to hustle.  
  
By Williams watch he arrived at 11:05. Thanking the driver he jumped out and began searching carefully for Selene outside the theater. He was unsuccessful however.  
  
"No, No, No!" He thought in desperation. "Please God No!" Head hanging low he sighed in defeat. Suddenly he felt a hand on his right shoulder,  
  
"I said not to be late William," said a sweet voice into his ear. William turned to find Selene wearing another white dress, this one long sleeved to protect her from the chilled weather. William just gawked, she looked like an angel. He started stammering,  
  
"My apologies, I didn't see your message until this morning and I had already slept in so I-" She laughed, silencing him.  
  
"You're so polite William. It's alright, you're only late by five minutes." She laughed again and William forced out a chuckle. He had been so afraid that she had left.  
  
"Well William, be a gentleman and walk me in." Selene held out her arm, which William logically took in his own, and walked her into the theater as courtly as knew how. He had never done this before. God he wished he had changed into another suit! They took their seats next to one another, the play began almost instantly. William had never been to the theater, he couldn't afford the time or money. For the next hour or so William casually glanced at the stage from time to time, but too often his eyes drifted towards Selene and he forgot the performance. Half a dozen times he pretended to laugh as the crowd was lifted into an uproar. Obviously the performers had said something funny, but William wasn't paying much attention. All he was focused on was how she smiled, and how she laughed, and before he knew it the show was already over.  
  
As they left the theater Selene said,  
  
"Walk with me." Happy to oblige, William walked side by side with her down the streets of London. "What did you think of the performance?" Selene asked. William could only reply,  
  
"I'm not sure. I mean I enjoyed it of course, but I don't have anything else to compare it too. I haven't been to the theater before." Selene looked at him, shocked.  
  
"Never?!?" she asked. William shook his head saying,  
  
"My mother is very ill and has been most of my life. Most of my houses income goes to keeping her comfortable and acquiring what medicine we can. I can't afford such luxuries." At that William mentally kicked himself realizing it probably wasn't a good idea to remind her that he was only a hairs breath away from being a beggar. To his surprise Selene smiled and said,  
  
"Your mother is very lucky to have you watching out for her. Lesser men would not spend so much time and money keeping her in this world." William smiled, but the frowned,  
  
"It worries me to see her of late. It used to be that she could venture outside without difficulty on better days. Now she rarely ever has the strength to venture outside even on her best days. She's bedridden most of the time and her spirit is gradually growing weaker. I would that I could watch over her all day but she keeps insisting that I do too much and should focus on my own life more." Selene smiled,  
  
"Perhaps you and my father do have something in common." William raised an eyebrow in question. Selene explained.  
  
"Not long after I was born my grandmother fell into a deep sickness. To this day the doctors were unable to explain exactly what it was, but she had great spells of insanity for days at a time until finally, bedridden, she passed away."  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." William said with regret in his voice. Selene shook her head.  
  
"It hurts, but I never really even knew her. My father is the one you should be sorry for. I was too young to remember, but my mother says that when she died he was devastated. He used to be a very happy and playful man. But afterwards he became very cold and distant. I love him, and I know he loves me and wants the best for me. But it's still hard to see things from his view." William nodded, trying to think of a way to comfort her. Suddenly Selene laughed and said,  
  
"Listen to us, we're talking about our family. This is hardly a romantic conversation." Romance, William found the thought of her reaching out to him romantic enough. Ah, perhaps poetry!  
  
"Would you perhaps be interested in reading my latest piece?" Selene's face showed great enthusiasm,  
  
"I'd love to here it." William pulled out his journal, flipped to his latest entry and began reading.  
  
"Yet her smell, it doth linger, painting pictures in my mind.  
Her eyes, balls of honey. Angel's harps her laugh.  
Oh, lark. Grant a sign if crook'd be Cupid's shaft.  
Hark, the lark, her name it hath spake.  
"Selene" it discharges from twixt its wee beak."   
  
He had actually misread the final line as it read Cecily and not Selene, but he certainly wasn't stupid enough to read it like that. When he had finished William looked to Selene to see a pathetically forced smile. William sighed,  
  
"I know, I know, I'm a bad poet." Selene's eyes widened,  
  
"No, No, It's not that-" William cut her off.  
  
"Yes it is. They don't call me William the bloody awful poet for nothing. Selene replied,  
  
"No, I mean, you have an extensive vocabulary, and your syntax is well placed but," there was a pause before she continued "It just seems so forced." William in surprise said,  
  
"Well sometimes they just need to be ironed out, this line here for instance, let's see what's another word for discharges?" Selene began laughing again quite suddenly which threw William off his train of thought very quickly. She didn't seem to be able to stop until finally after catching the stares of several on lookers she calmed down.  
  
"It's no wonder why your poems have no substance, there's no feeling in them!" William suddenly became defensive.  
  
"I'll have you know that I write these poems when I am deeply enthralled by the passions of my heart!" Selene pointed and said,  
  
"See, that last sentence was a better poem than the one you wrote, and do you know why? It's because you didn't think!" William looked confused and said,  
  
"But it has to have order, has to have structure to be poetry-" Selene began laughing again.  
  
"Honestly William! You should be a man of science not art! It's not mathematics, its feelings. A sculptor doesn't keep adding texture and material to create beauty; he strips away that which isn't needed until all that is left is his vision."  
  
"What do you know?" William defensively objected. He knew his poems were bad, but that didn't mean his writing style was lacking. He just had to find a subject that his style was good for, that was all. Selene sighed and said,  
  
"Bloody hell man, I finally get some fire out of you and your going to argue about how to write poetry when your own poems are so bloody awful that even you admit it. Maybe it's time to hear a woman's perspective on the matter?" Inevitably, with a sigh, William conceded to her.  
  
"Very well, so what would you suggest?" She gave a great smile and said,  
  
"Good, now come with me." William felt a tingle of apprehension as she suddenly pulled him over to the side of the street. "Ok, now first of all, clear your mind of all thoughts."  
  
"What?" He stuttered.  
  
"Just do it." William blinked, but attempted to do so. "Ok?"  
  
"Ok."  
  
"No thoughts?"  
  
"None."  
  
"Ok good, now close your eyes." William complied.  
  
"Now what?" Suddenly without warning William felt two soft lips press to his. "She's kissing me!" he thought, then kicked himself for thinking. Common sense asserted itself and William passionately drew her into him, the kiss intensified from a simple press to a desperate desire to devoir each other.  
  
William was beyond bliss. He let his fingers curl through her hair as he tried to draw her closer. Had he the time to think about it he might have decided to back off, but he wasn't thinking. At last the need for oxygen took over and they reluctantly pulled away. Selene managed amongst her ragged breath to get out.  
  
"Still no thinking, now speak your poetry." William, still in a euphoric state began,  
  
"I always was a fool for love  
I guess it's written in my blood  
I never cared what others said  
You were always in my head  
Or on a picture I had drawn  
An elegant beauty dwarfing sun's dawn  
You were always there inside my mind  
And in my heart then, now, and for all time  
They say grow up, forget, that I'll move on  
But I don't want to forget at all  
About your hair, your lips, your eyes  
About your smiles, your laughs, your cries  
I love all you are beneath and above  
And I'll always be a fool for love"  
  
"Much better, much better." Selene whispered. Seeing Williams strange look she asked, "didn't you think so?"  
  
Williams answer was to kiss her again, with even more passion. Obviously it wasn't the most logical thing to do. It was dangerous enough that he was engaging in ungentlemanly acts and she in unladylike ones, but they were doing them on the streets of London and it was an ever present possibility that someone might see them. William's face wasn't well known, but Selene's face was, and if word got back to her father she was kissing a young man in wrinkly clothing it wouldn't take much to put the pieces together.  
  
But neither of them were thinking.  
  
London  
  
2004 A.D.  
  
Selene's apartment wasn't far from Gehenna Now! as she had said. The building certainly wasn't anything spectacular, it was practically in the slum regions. It had the advantage of being a low visibility area though, something that was invaluable at the moment. Selene again felt her world crashing around her. Everything she had believed for the past century had again quite suddenly been thrown out the window and she was left to pick up the pieces and make sense of it all. "How is he here?" Selene thought, "He should be dead!" She turned the rear view mirror a tad so that she could hold him in her gaze as he followed her car.  
  
He had certainly changed over the past century, the black on black look suited him much better than she would have expected, but what had prompted him to crucify his hair? Well there would be time to ask questions later. She made a left turn and led the car into an old parking lot taking her familiar place. Spike promptly parked his bike next to her.  
  
When Selene got out of her car Spike followed her wordlessly as she led him through the doors and upstairs to room 308. She slid her key into place and opened the door to reveal an equally meager room to match the building.  
  
Plain grey carpet with plain white walls, and furniture that was functional, not decorative. It was certainly a step down from her manor in London. Even still, trinkets and baubles to decorate the home never really were his thing; that was always Drusilla's interest.  
  
Selene walked through a nearby door on the right into her bedroom and laid down her guns. Spike watched in fascination as she took off her coat and proceeded to remove various deadly implements from her leather attire. From both her wrists she produced two long serrated blades. From her boots she pulled out two more pistols, this continued to go on until finally there was a small arsenal on the bed. At this Spike raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Thought you said you only had this one left." Spike raised the desert eagle which Selene snatched up and placed with the others in the pile.  
  
"I lied." She stated unemotionally.  
  
"Right then." He said without much interest, he didn't really care.  
  
Spike left the bedroom while Selene was busy sorting the weapons out. He proceeded to the kitchen and threw his duster on the counter. Checking the fridge he found a healthy supply of cow blood, good to know that they shared a common diet. Interestingly enough, that wasn't all he found. There was red meat, fruits, vegetables, cheese, and even milk. Spike shot a curious glance at the food and decided to check the pantry. Sure enough there was a variety of treats. This was odd. Either Selene's clan had developed Vampiric taste buds which could actually enjoy such dishes or, more likely, she didn't live alone. Deciding that a drink could do both of them good he gathered the necessary ingredients, which she of course had, and fixed a generous amount of tea setting it on the stove allowing it to heat.  
  
Time flew and eventually the pot was steaming signaling that it was ready. William poured a small amount into two cups and filled them the rest of the way with a healthy amount of cow blood he fished out from the fridge.  
  
By now Selene had finished sorting out most of her weapons so she left the room to find Spike waiting for her in the kitchen and to her relief was holding two cups of warm blood. She took one and sat down across from him. They each took a drink, savoring the salty, yet sweet, taste of the blood. Spike took the initiative,  
  
"Ok so let's get the simple stuff out of the way first, now what kind of trouble are you in?" Selene sighed, sitting back in her chair. She had hoped to hear William's story first, but it was because of her that his night had been shot to hell, and she owed him an explanation.  
  
"What do you know of the Death Dealers?" Spike's eyebrows shot up,  
  
"Enough too know not to mess with them. So that's who those buggers were." Spike had only heard of them a few times in his unlife as they tended to stay in the background but he knew from what he had heard that they were legendary for there cold hard efficiency and brutality.  
  
"Yes, up until a few months ago I was a decorated soldier in their ranks."  
  
"What happened?" Spike asked with interest.  
  
"Have you heard of the Zyvera clan's blood feud with the Lycan hordes?" Spike nodded,  
  
"Heard about that one time from my grand sire, wasn't it supposed to have been the bloodiest war in the dark ages?" She nodded, to which Spike replied, "Still why would a war that happened centuries ago have anything to do with--" Spike suddenly stopped, thought, and said "Oh, wait, let me guess, the wars still going on isn't it." Selene nodded. Spike smiled saying, "That's the problem with immortals and wars, the leaders never die, so the wars tend to keep going." Again Selene nodded. "Now those vamps from earlier," Spike continued, "had the same scent you did, so I'm assuming that you're from the same clan. And I'm even going to go so far as to assume that those were also fellow death dealers?"  
  
"Correct." Selene answered.  
  
"What the bleeding hell did you do to piss them off so much?" Selene suddenly became quiet and Spike could tell that this was difficult for her.  
  
"I slew my own sire, one of the three Vampire elders in our clan." Spike nearly chocked on his tea, the slaying of a Vampire elder was uncommon, Spike himself had not had the honor of administering a coup de grace to a child of the millennia.  
  
"Bloody hell woman! You're not in trouble, your dead where you stand!" The slaying of an elder by a childer was……a sacrilege, to put it mildly. Selene gave a slight nod to this; she understood the predicament she was in. Still, this only gave rise to more questions.  
  
"So what exactly did your sire do to you. I mean sure I tried to kill my grand sire a couple of times but there were……circumstances." Selene made a note to ask what those circumstances were when it was her turn for questions.  
  
"He betrayed me, and deceived me for a century. Then he tried to kill…" Spike waited for her to finish, but she didn't. "Listen," she stood up, taking one last sip of her tea. "The morning is nearly here. We're both exhausted and I'm in no condition to be digging up old ghosts at the moment. Let's continue this tomorrow night." Selene desperately wanted to hear his story, but the situation was awkward enough as it was. And she could hardly ask him questions when she couldn't answer his.  
  
"Right, sunset then." Spike wanted to hear more, but it was obviously painful for her to continue, better to wait till the following night. He had no desire to cause her pain.  
  
"You can sleep on the couch, we'll speak tomorrow." She turned and walked to her room, but Spike needed to know one more thing,  
  
"Who else lives here luv?" Selene turned with surprise and looked down at the ground before meeting his gaze to say,  
  
"My lover." Spike felt a sword slide through his heart. He made sure his expression bellied the feelings of agony he was feeling. "He's not currently in London, he has business in Tibet." She waited a moment before saying, "Get some sleep William." Then, just like that, she closed the door.  
  
Spike listened carefully as he heard her climb into bed, and then dead silence. He had half expected her to hear her crying. It was almost like she was incapable of doing so anymore; like she was shut off from everything. Spike laid back on the soft leather couch, feeling the sleep start to wash over him. He'd been tired already after the vast amounts of alcohol he'd consumed earlier and had been running almost entirely on adrenaline the past hour or so, although technically not since Vampire bodies didn't produce it. Pure will was keeping him up, but his nature as a Vampire was taking over and now he was ready to rest for the day.  
  
As his eyes began to flutter his thoughts were on Selene. She had changed so much. Obviously becoming a Vampire does tend to change people, but even still. A century ago, hell just a decade ago, if someone were to tell him this leather clad perfection was his Selene……it was more than just how she looked though. The Selene he had known was an aristocratic enigma. Well mannered, polite, but with an odd ball sense of humor and a larger than life personality. She was the type of woman who always seemed to have a white light following her. Almost as if the entire world was a stage and the spotlight was always on her.  
  
Not that she was conceited! She was quite simply and unintentionally that charismatic. This Selene was totally different. She was certainly no less beautiful. No one Spike knew could argue that she wasn't one of the most gorgeous women in the world. But her entire persona and demeanor had changed. The white dresses were gone and in their place was protective, but nonetheless provocative, black leather. She had apparently gone through dozens of training exercises involving: martial arts, weapons, and tactics.  
  
The Selene he knew was no pushover but she was anything but a twin pistol wielding angel of death. Gone was her bubbly and shinning smile. Now she was cold, withdrawn, and sad. As though she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.  
  
As the sleep overcame him his last thoughts were not only on Selene, but Angel as well.  
  
"Bloody Hell!" Spike thought in sudden realization. "The whole tortured soul, black on black, dark brooding Vampire gig actually is sexy!" He vowed with his last conscious thought in that moment to never repeat this too his grand sire.  
  
AN:  
  
I'm really not good at writing romance, sorry. The flashbacks are important but they won't be the main focus of the story, not for long at least. Trust me some real action is about to start up, but the connection Spike and Selene had as mortal's plays an epic part in the overall story, so I have to try my best at showing that. I'll try not to be to cheesy.  
  
Was the poem ok? It was actually one I wrote myself, and I'm not to sure about it. I knew I wanted William to improve a poem so I took one of my own and wrote it in hopping it's not quite as bad as some of his earlier works. Also interesting to note is that, ironically I wrote it while I was thinking about Kate Beckinsale(I have a huge crush on her)!  
  
Buffy will make an appearance in the next chapter, which I'm planning to have up very soon.  
  
Another Vampire hunting badass from another series will make a cameo, probably not in the next chapter, but very soon. He won't be around for very long but it kind of occurred to me that because this portion of the story is taking place in London it might be interesting to throw him in the mix. (By the way, that was your hint!)  
  
Hope it turned out ok, more is coming.  
  
================================================================================ 


	4. Chapter 4

First things first, the Legal part.  
  
This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
===============================================================  
  
Notes:  
  
Here's the next chapter. It's shorter then the last, but some really good stuff is getting ready to happen, promise.  
  
===============================================================  
  
Fool For Her  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Spike's cheek was pressed into the glass so much it felt numb. He was floating, somehow, and standing over him on the glass floor he was pressed too was Buffy. She smiled and said,  
  
"I'm sorry I can't let you touch me, but you're beneath me. Spike began beating on the glass trying to shatter it. But try as he did it wouldn't crack. Suddenly he saw Selene in her white dress standing next to her watching with a smile as Spike kept trying to come up to them. Selene laughed and said,  
  
"Poor guy, he tries so hard doesn't he? To bad he's beneath us." Buffy chimed in,  
  
"Yeah, but hey, have you ever met The Immortal?" Buffy started walking away and Selene followed.  
  
"No, but I've heard stories…"  
  
"All true!" Buffy smiled. Spike began beating the glass with even more furry and screamed at them not to go, but they couldn't hear him, or they didn't care. He watched as they slowly faded away. Sad, Spike crept down from the glass and saw on the below level Harmony, Drusilla, Cecily, and that Goth girl he took to Xander's wedding. What was her name again?  
  
They started jumping and yelling,  
  
"Come here Spikey! You're not beneath us!" Spike started to flap his arms but he started falling towards them until finally he came crashing down. But as he landed the rabid girls seemed to transform into an ocean of shoes. Dress shoes, tennis shoes, flip flops, all kinds of shoes were around him, suffocating him!  
  
"I'M DROWNING IN FOOTWEAR!" He yelled in excitement. Suddenly awake he jumped off of the couch and leapt to his feet. Spike caught his breath, looked around, and listened. Either Selene woke up as quietly as she slept, or she was still deep in slumber.  
  
"God I hate that dream!" The last night he had dreamt it he had burnt to a crisp the following day.  
  
Italy  
  
2004 A.D.  
  
Buffy stood alert in her personal training room; it was nearly the size of a large chapel with only open space. Off to the side of the room were various weights and training machines which she would work out with later. At the moment though, Buffy began her morning routine with great vigor. Punch, right hook, round house kick, she became a blur as her custom martial arts routine sent her in a flurry of deadly motion. She performed a quick back hand spring and delivered a great kick to a nearby punching bag, its chain was broken and it was sent nearly fifteen feet across the room. She delivered a punch to another one and saw her hand break through the rubber material releasing the stuffing from its protective shell. Every morning for no less than half an hour she did this routine, and it showed. A quick butterfly twist and yet another bag was thrown. Back in Sunnydale they had had limited funds to say the least and she had to be conservative in her training, now that she was head of the Watchers organization however she was free to let loose all her power on the training materials.  
  
Today she concluded much earlier than usual, so with one more great kick, and yet another ruined training bag, she took a great huff and proceeded to the back of the room where she took a great gulp of water from the glass on her desk. The training room also served as her office, though the small desk did seem out of place in the gargantuan room.  
  
She had ended her routine much earlier than she usually opted too; mostly because she was still exhausted from the ordeal her lover had put her through last night. She smiled taking another drink from her water, the perspiration dripping from her face. Damn he was hot; Angel's dark good looks, without any of his immaturity. Angel was a good guy, but Buffy had to admit that for a guy who was two hundred plus years he sure didn't act like it at times. And "The Immortal", as he was called, was as far removed from Spike as was possible, which wasn't "necessarily" a good thing. Spike had been good for her, gave her some insight to herself, as well as what a relationship shouldn't be like. Her relationship with Angel had been…questionable, but her sexcapades with Spike had been down right unhealthy. He did love her, as much as an evil being could. And with his soul he might have even connected with her on a level even greater than Angel, but still, there was just not enough trust for a relationship to survive.  
  
Buffy banished the thoughts from her mind as she wiped the sweat off. Time for a quick shower before morning classes begin. Now with the old council gone it had become Buffy's and the Scoobie's mission to rebuild it and rewrite the principals on which it was founded. No longer was the Slayer the tool of the Watchers. The Watchers were the tools of the Slayers. The Slayers had the overall say of what went on. But it was the watchers who were their advisors. One by one these new principals had to be enforced however. The main house in England was destroyed but there were a little under a hundred enclaves all around the world. Italy was their fourth location.  
  
"Good training session." Buffy turned to see Giles in his old fashioned tweed suit she had thought she'd seen the last of in Sunnydale. Being head of the Watchers council had really gone to his head and he had begun falling back into his old mannerisms at times."  
  
"Mr. Giles."  
  
"Miss Summers."  
  
"Rupert."  
  
"Don't call me that Buffy, it sounds odd." They shared a quick smile of fatherly and daughterly love before Buffy turned, walked to her desk and took a seat in business mode.  
  
"So, is this a social call?" Buffy doubted that, they usually didn't make trips to each others offices unless it was business related, they did there social business in their meager off time. That is when she wasn't with her lover.  
  
"No, I have something to discuss with you, hopefully rather quickly." Buffy leaned back in her chair, gesturing for Giles to take a seat.  
  
"Ok, some big evil a foot. This isn't about the Immortal again is it?" Giles shook his head.  
  
"None of the above, I've given up trying to control your love life, I had my love of danger when I was your age myself. But it does concern a former relationship." It took Buffy a second to realize what he was talking about. Giles continued in a serious tone,  
  
"I understand you're going to be doing a lesson over "William the Bloody" in tomorrow's class and I must ask exactly what your lesson will cover?" Buffy had been expecting this; she knew what Giles was asking. So in a calm and cool tone she replied,  
  
"We've taught these girls how to fight; now we need to teach them how to survive. They aren't immortal and they need to realize that. Spike was as normal a Vampire as almost any other century old Vampire can be but he's one of the few common demons who's actually killed a Slayer, and he's the only one who's killed two. That makes him the perfect subject of study." Giles chimed in,  
  
"And what else will you be mentioning?" Buffy stayed cool.  
  
"Don't worry, I have no intention of mentioning his fight to get his soul back, the fact that he personally saved the world, and no power on this Earth will make me reveal the details of my not so short affair with him. These girls need to see things black and white like I used to. They aren't ready for the grey areas yet." Giles nodded.  
  
"I'm glad you feel that way, and sense that is the case," Giles reached into his coat and retrieved a fairly large parcel and placed it on her desk saying, "I hope that this will assist with your lesson." Curiously Buffy opened the box and discovered two file folders, one sky blue, and the other crimson red. On each of the file tabs was the name "William the Bloody/Spike." Quizzically Buffy looked at Giles.  
  
"Most Vampire records aren't as organized, but every so often a Vampire proves he is merited closer study, like Angel, or the Master, they then become a part of the watchers Codex in the motherhouse, and each record is carefully pieced together by an individual watcher. Buffy nodded saying,  
  
"So who put this one together?" Giles sighed.  
  
"Me." Buffy looked at him with surprise. Giles answered, "He saved the world and sealed a Hellmouth Buffy, that's uncommon enough as it is, completely unprecedented for a Vampire. I felt the least he deserved was a place in the archives amongst Vampire legends, as well as a short Eulogy in the sealed room of hero's, rather redundant now that he's alive again." Giles had told her about this room, a place where all the records and names of those who saved the world were placed when they died. The names of the strongest slayers and monster hunters were kept there to prevent any attempted resurrection by darker forces.  
  
"Besides," Giles continued, "I never much cared for the chump, certainly never understood why you--" with a look from Buffy Giles didn't finish his sentence and moved on too say, "But I was curious about who he was, why he was what he was. I felt motivated to understand him better, and I think I do now." Buffy and Giles shared another moment of understanding with one another before he continued on. "The Red folder contains all of his exploits as a vampire while the blue contains a brief but intriguing history of his human life in the late nineteenth century." Giles suddenly had a large smile on his face. "Did you know, for instance, that the reason he was called William the Bloody in the first place was because he--" Buffy smiled and finished,  
  
"Wrote bloody awful poetry, I know. He gave me the back story." Giles blinked.  
  
"Oh, well then there may not be much interest in there." Buffy smiled and opened the blue folder,  
  
"Well you never know," she said, "There were still a few questions I had about--" before she finished speaking she saw a collection of photographs slip out. With interest she looked at them. The first showed a young man in full suit, spectacles, tie and all. The man had the most outrageous and geeky hair Buffy had ever seen and it took her a few moments before she looked at his face and made the connection. "Oh my god!" A great fit of laughter started as she looked at the man who would later become Spike. She knew he was supposed to have been a geek, but this! Giles laughed with her before standing up and preparing to leave.  
  
Coming down from the laughter she set the photo down and began looking at the others. The second photograph was not nearly as hilarious. It was a portrait shot of a young and beautiful woman. Buffy was shocked at the elegance she seemed to glow, the white dress she wore hardly even seemed to contrast with the paleness of her skin. Her eyes were so deep that Buffy found herself lost in them, even though it was only a photograph. She imagined this woman was that much more beautiful in person. "So this is Cecily." Buffy thought as she overviewed the sweet face of the young woman. "Ok I have to admit this is definitely the type of girl you can obsess over. Spike did have good taste in women in his mortal life."  
  
The backdrop seemed to be a library, creating an air of intellect. The woman Buffy assumed was Cecily had an air of innocence, yet not naivety. Buffy made one last overview of the photo and was about to set it down when she noticed pen writing on the bottom right corner. It read "Selene Griffith, 1880."  
  
Buffy frowned. Curiously she asked,  
  
"Giles, who's this?" Buffy lifted the photograph to his view. Giles adjusted his glasses a moment and said, matter of factly,  
  
"That is Lady Selene Griffith, the daughter of one of England's wealthiest nobles at the time. All our records suggest that she was Spike's mortal lover before he was turned." Buffy looked at the photograph shocked and shook her head.  
  
"That's not possible, Giles he never mentioned her." Giles looked surprised.  
  
"He said nothing?" Buffy shook her head.  
  
"No, there was another girl he talked about. Cecily, or something." Giles nodded.  
  
"There is a short reference to that name in his bibliography, the daughter of a merchant I believe. He had a strong infatuation with her for a number of years I recall. But when she made it clear that she had no interest whatsoever he soon became involved with Lady Selene." Buffy shook her head,  
  
"Giles that can't be, your records are wrong! He died the same night Cecily gave him the cold shoulder!" Giles spoke very determinedly,  
  
"No Buffy. He didn't. For the life of me I don't know why he told you that but I assure you that these records are completely accurate. They've been quoted by multiple sources, analyzed and cross-referenced through hundreds of records and texts. The actual dates are not confirmed but all factual information that we have shows that William the bloody died months or possibly even years after Cecily's rejection." Buffy suddenly felt the ground fall beneath her. It didn't make sense!  
  
"Why did he lie to me?" Buffy asked suddenly. Giles thought a moment and said.  
  
"Perhaps he didn't wish to relive painful memories." Buffy's eyes narrowed and she said,  
  
"What do you mean?" Giles pointed to the blue folder.  
  
"It's all in there Buffy, take a look." Giles sat up and left her there in her desk with her mind in a whirl. She reached over and hit a button for the intercom on the desk.  
  
"Xander here." A young man's voice answered on the opposite line. Buffy spoke,  
  
"Xander, tell the girls they have the day off, I've got some stuff I need to do."  
  
"You got it." He answered simply. With that taken care of, she immediately snatched up the blue folder and began reading it thoroughly.  
  
AN:  
  
Hey thanks for your reviews.   
  
To Cal. Your partially right. The "Corvinus" clan was the Hungarian clan of the original immortal, Alexander Corvinus. After the virus spread throughout his clan however he was the only one who mutated and therefore the only one who survived. He fathered 3 children, one Vampire, one Werewolf, and one mortal.  
  
The mortal we assume keeps the clan name since the name Michael Corvin ressembles the name Corvinus but because of the blood feud between the Vampires and the Lycans it seems logical to conclude that they each took different names. Lycan for the wolfline, and then another for the vampires. They just call them the vampires in the movie but I don't have that luxury since I'm dealing with multiple vampire clans.  
  
Thanks to Golden-Vampyre-Goddess for supplying the clan name, Zyvera. And if you're curious why I chose it I was reading your review and I thought it sounded good but I wasn't sure if it would work. Then I watched the movie and I remembered what the name of the vampire's synthetic plasma company is, Ziodex industries. They don't exactly sound alike but they're similar enough to have a root origin which actually makes a fair amount of sense considering vampires are as old as the earliest form of language, kudos to you. Was that coincidence or did you have the same thought?  
  
"I'M DROWNING IN FOOTWEAR!" LOL I wasn't sure whether or not to put that in there. If you recall in "Chosen", the last Buffy episode, Spike yells this while he is waking up from a nightmare and Buffy is talking with "The First". I've been wanting to give my own variation of that dream for a while. A lot of people have really dived into this and have actually got some pretty deep philosophical arguments about it. My favorite is that footwear, because it refers to feet, more specifically the "sole" of the foot, and therefore represents Spike's soul. Also if you recall, in the episode were Angel is having his own nightmare (Where Spike is made a "Real Boy" by the blue farrie), if you notice he is walking around without any shoes. Sans-shoes anyone? Bad pun but this definitely relates to shan-shu. Spike, if he is drowning in footwear is not sans-shoes. My thoughts: Wesley was never exactly sure of what the exact translation of the prophecy was. At first he thought it meant Angel would die, then he decided it meant he got to live, and therefore concluded it meant he would become human. But if Angel is sans-shoes (shan-shu), yet spike is drowning in footwear (soul), what does that mean? It means the prophecy doesn't refer to Angel by name because Shan-shu has happened before, only never with two vampires at the same time. Angel was on a quest for redemption, and he almost got it. He sacrificed his own happiness by killing jasmine, and he sacrificed the one who meant the most to him for their benefit, with Conner. There was only one thing left; he had to sacrifice his own life for the greater good. But low and behold, it was not he who sealed the hellmouth, but Spike. Spike was still not redeemed yet, and because of that the evil within him was what destroyed him. When he was brought back however, he was brought back a champion of the people, qualifying him for Shan-shu. Angel was also a qualifying party because of the sacrifices he made, but I have no doubt that if it had been him making the last stand, he would have Shan-shued! They are both still qualifying parties, and should another apocalypse rear its head, they each have the chance to find humanity again. And for those of you who are talking about how Angel signed away Shan-shu, HE CAN'T. Shan-shu is his destiny! If it were that easy to change your destiny why couldn't Buffy just sign her name in blood on a slip of paper to make her not be the slayer anymore? Destiny is not about choice, it's about WHO YOU ARE! Angel and Spike are champions, warriors, vampires with souls. The Circle was just bluffing when they had Angel sign away Shan-shu, they knew that it wouldn't matter, but he didn't.  
  
Look for the next chapter, and keep reviewing. It encourages me!  
  
================================================================================ 


	5. Chapter 5

First things first, the Legal part.  
  
This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.  
  
Notes:  
  
Fool For Her  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Spike sensed the front door open slowly and resisted the instinctive urge to leap to his feet. As a vampire it was his nocturnal nature to protect his daylight resting place and although he was sleeping he instantly awoke the moment his body felt it was in danger. He could tell by the way the intruder was moving that it was not Selene. Obviously it couldn't be her because she was still in her bedroom and Spike hadn't heard her leave but interestingly enough, Spike could tell that the intruder was not even a run of the mill human. It was large and clumsy, and its failed but humoring attempts to be stealth like were very obvious. A demon, Spike realized, a fairly large one. Spike silently sniffed the air and nearly cringed when he recognized an all too familiar scent. A Fyarl demon! Fyarls weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, they were more "crush and ask questions later", hence the reason its stealth like approach came as a surprise. Fyarls were known for there mucus, when exposed to oxygen it hardened very rapidly and it made them almost perfect for abduction jobs, if you could train one to be obedient enough that is. Spike knew that no one could have organized a Fyarl abduction for him this fast, it took a day at least to get location and an image of there victim engraved into their mind, so obviously this thing was after Selene and everyone who might be with her. The other reason they were used on missions like this was because of the fact that they spoke there own unique language that only a handful of people in the world knew, so even if captured they couldn't give up their master. Luckily for Spike, he could understand Fyarl tongue, so all he had to do was grab it and torture it until it started giving names.  
He heard it moving closer and realized that the sun had about an hour before it set. The Demon had obviously come hoping to catch them while they were sleeping. Stupid git, any vampire who had been around for a century knew not to sleep fully during the day. That was when most hunters made their move.  
The demon walked until it was standing over him and inhaled very loudly and audibly. Spike was preparing himself for the pounce when suddenly three loud consecutive gunshots rang out and Spike shot up to his feet to see the demon lying dead on the floor and Selene holding a smoking pistol, and judging by the steam rising from the entry wounds she had used silver bullets; the preferred method of killing a Fyarl.  
"BLOODY HELL WOMAN!" Spike yalped, falling back into the couch.  
"Your welcome." Selene said coldly. She had expected more gratitude for saving his life. Selene had heard it coming through the door, recognized it's scent and immediately reached for her armory.  
"You killed the bloody thing! Now we'll never find out who sent it!" Selene sighed,  
"It's a Fyarl demon, William. They can only speak in a series of spits and indistinguishable gargles. Only a handful of people in the world can understand it, so unless you know someone-" Spike sighed and raised his hand while bent over the body examining it. Selene cocked an eyebrow in recognition, "Oh, I see. Well that is unfortunate." She wasn't even going to apologize.  
"Has this happened before?" Selene nodded, walking over to where spike was still examining the corpse, she took a spot beside him.  
"Yes, but never from a non death dealer. Michael and I are ever vigilant. We rarely stay longer than a month in any one place." "So Michaels the name." Spike thought for a brief moment before saying, "Well it's a well known fact that Fyarls aren't exactly the thinking type, so I'm doubting he came on his own accord." Selene nodded in agreement.  
"Yes, but the Zyvera Clan never hires third party mercenaries or assassins, they consider themselves of being above such things." Spike nodded, standing up from the demon corpse, the silver bullets Selene used were already disintegrating it like salt on a slug.  
"Could it be someone working inside the clan?" Spike asked. Selene stood up with him and pondered this a moment before saying,  
"Possible, but if they were to do so it would have to be behind the backs of the entire clan, otherwise they would be executed for treason. The only one I know of who'd be stupid enough to try something lik that is not in a position to do so. And sense I've killed the assassin we may be left with no option but to wait for the next one." Spike grinned and grabbed his duster on a nearby chair saying,  
"Get your coat." Selene looked at him in surprise and annoyance,  
"William, we have no leads what so ever, we could hit the streets all night and we'd be right back where we started." At this Spike turned and lifted one finger to make a point.  
"Wrong luv, we've got one lead," Selene mentally reviewed the facts and suddenly understood what he was talking about. Spike continued with a grin,  
"Like you said, there's only a handful of people in the world who can speak Fyarl. Me for one, and I know who to ask to find out who else in town can.  
  
After the sun set, Spike and Selene left the apartment and took their respective vehicles and set out at very unsafe mortal speeds with Selene following Spike this time. After a fairly quick trip they arrived at a fairly impressive looking club. They each parked in the available slots Selene exited her car and asked,  
"Is this a joke William? This is a mortal club!" Spike grinned and opened the door for her saying,  
"Ladies first." Selene sighed, hoping that he was taking this seriously and stepped inside, but as she did she caught the name of the band that was performing tonight.  
"Dingo's ate my baby, what the bloody hell inspired that name!" she thought. Spike followed her in and was instantly met with the sound of heavy rock music and all the screams one would expect to hear with it. The entire place was overrun with rabid young men and women who were all having drinks, asking for a dance, or trying to find someone to take home. Selene again looked at Spike for some kind of explanation, to this Spike gestured to the front stage where there was a group of young, attractive (in a mortal way that she didn't prefer), young men. The one who caught her eye specifically was a young man in his twenties she guessed playing lead guitar. He was slightly short with pale skin, bright nearly orange red hair, and a face that unlike his companions which were screaming out loud in passion, seemed almost…bored. That was when she realized it. Selene had been hunting Lycans all her life, she could feel instinctively when one was nearby and she recognized this young man for what he was, a wolf in sheep's clothing. The song reached a new peak of noise and Spike and Selene forced their way through the crowd until they were almost at the front. Both Selene and Spike got several stares, some at their leather attire, but mostly looks of desire. Spike was rather amused at the reaction a group of nearby schoolgirls had when he passed but Selene was desperately trying to keep from having a migraine as several flocks of grown men ogled her up and down, the fact that she wasn't used to being in large groups wasn't helping matters either.  
The song abruptly ended and just before an enormous amount of applause began Spike lifted his hands to his mouth to increase the loud yell that followed,  
"OZ!" Selene noticed the young Lycan with red hair turn to see them in the crowd.  
"Curious name?" she thought. After the applause died down the lead singer began to say,  
"Thanks everybody, now this next one's called-" he suddenly stopped when the Lycan called Oz tapped him on the shoulder. They had a brief exchange before the singer returned to the mic to say, "We're gonna take a little break folks." There were murmurs of "ughs" and "Come on's". Oz gave a nod of the head and with a gesture from Spike, they left the Crowd to Selene's great relief. They made a quick trip out the door and around the side of the club to find Oz standing near a back way entrance. He took a few steps forward when he saw them coming until the were all face to face. Oz certainly seemed out of place in the group considering that Selene and Spike were each covered in leather attire while he was wearing a simple windbreaker and jeans. Oz gave a short nod and began their inevitably quick interview,  
"Spike." He stated.  
"Oz." Spike returned.  
"What's up?"  
"Vacation."  
"Ah, makes sense, what with the whole English thing. How's LA treating you?"  
"Not so good."  
"Sounds about right. Who's she?" He gestured towards Selene."  
"Old friend." He answered.  
"How old?"  
"Century."  
"She smells different."  
"Zyvera clan."  
"Cool. Name's Oz." He held out his hand. Selene's eyes widened, the entire exchange had lasted less than thirty seconds.  
"Selene." She answered and shook it hesitantly. Selene was floored. He had to be the calmest werewolf she had ever seen! Even Lucian himself had never been this cool or collected. It was unnerving.  
"Cool, she shook my hand." Selene gave a curious look. Oz answered, "Most Zyvera are pretty uptight. In your position they'd either run, shoot, or spit in my general direction typically. Not to mention that you're with with Spike, they don't typically like hanging out with other vampires." Selene didn't really know what to say to this. The fact was he was right. All of her combat instincts were screaming at her to kill both her companions. After a brief pause Oz continued.  
"So what's the problem?" Spike nodded,  
"Right, Fyarl demons. Who's new in town that understands them?" Oz thought for a moment before saying,  
"Can't say I've heard of anyone new. There's the usual. The watchers probably have some interpreters." Spike shook his head.  
"Wouldn't be them, sure you haven't heard of anyone new?" "Nope, things have actually started becoming more hush hush now in the demon world, what with the whole slayer multiplicity." "So the rumors are true," Selene thought, "there is more than one slayer." Spike asked again,  
"Can't you think of anything else?" Oz shook his head.  
"I'd suggest asking the watchers council here but I don't think they'd help. They might get turned off by the whole fact that you're vampire's. Anything else I can help with?" Spike sighed,  
"No." "Alright, I gotta get back to playing then, the band really hates it when I do stuff like this." Oz stated. Selene spoke up.  
"Just a moment, William, can I have a private word with him?" Oz cocked an eyebrow and came close to making an expression…almost.  
"William?" He repeated. Spike gave him a warning glare to indicate that he should never call him this.  
"Right, I'll be waiting." Spike walked away leaving the two alone. Selene waited until he was out of earshot, which took awhile with his enhanced hearing, before asking abruptly,  
"What are you?" A brief pause.  
"Lead guitar." Selene glared. "Oh that. I'm a werewolf."  
"I know what species?" She asked.  
"Species?" Oz half asked. Selene couldn't believe this, he didn't even know his own blood line!  
"I'm Zyvera, William is an Aurrelian, but you're no Lycan, you have too much control to be an animal." Oz suddenly understood.  
"Oh that! Actually I did that myself, hung out in the Tibet mountains, learned some yoga, tai chi, kung fu, and self control, harness my inner beast kind of." This completely through Selene off guard. This werewolf had undergone the same training Michael was currently practicing! She couldn't believe it! It was a well known fact that werewolves opposed Zen arts, they believed that it was the beast within them that made them strong, control was a bad thing. And yet in front of her was a werewolf who had successfully passed the training regime. It was plausible that he could have easily killed both her and William if he so desired. Selene's hands that had been laying at her sides slowly crept toward her hips to rest on her weapons. She didn't draw it as he had shown no hostility, but she was prepared. Selene stated,  
"I have a friend undergoing the same training." Oz replied,  
"Friend? You know I heard rumors of a zyvera woman and an…'abomination', they call it running around the world." Selene thought carefully and then nodded in confirmation. "What exactly is the abomination?" Selene again hesitated, but realized that he had answered her questions to the best of his ability, and so should she.  
"A medical intern, human, who by coincidence was the only human alive who could harbor both the Zyvera and Lycan bloodline, creating a hybrid of sorts." Most would gawk at this or gain a dark look, Oz just said,  
"Cool." There was a pause before he added, "Does he know?" Realizing that he meant Spike she said,  
"He knows that Michael and I are involved if that's what you mean, but he doesn't know who Michael is." "Uh huh, look I don't know what Spike was like in the eighteenth century-" "Nineteenth." She corrected.  
"Ok, still he's not going to appreciate you keeping things from him." "I wasn't keeping things from him, there simply hasn't been time to explain!" Selene said defensively. Oz said, non pulsed as always,  
"Didn't mean to accuse, Spike and I don't even get along that well?" Selene cocked an eyebrow, that was how he acted around people he "didn't" get along with! Suddenly she had a dreadful thought,  
"He won't be like you will he?" Oz realized what she meant and said,  
"Oh, you mean the whole talk slow man of few words thing? No, I was always this cool. In fact, he'll be more or less what he was before getting bitten slash vamped, before the whole animal instinct becomes a factor. Accelerated hair growth not withstanding of course."  
"Perfect!" Selene thought, "Perfect!" There was another brief pause before Oz said,  
"Well the crowds probably getting angsty, later." And with that Oz returned through the back door and Selene made her way back.  
  
Spike was leaning on her sedan waiting for her. When he saw her coming he said,  
"So what was the conversation about?" Selene shrugged.  
"Nothing important."  
  
Another short trip saw them back at Selene's sanctuary. Spike was at the table drinking a glass of blood with vodka mixed into it while Selene was leaning against the window with another glass. The corpse of the Fyarl had long ago evaporated from the silver bullets Selene had imbedded in it.  
"So let's go over the facts." Spike said. "The Zyvera's want you dead, simple. But someone else is obviously keen on taking you alive. Who though?" Selene thought a moment and said,  
"Are you sure you didn't rule out the Watchers too quickly? Our relationship with there council was civil to a degree, but now that a new group has taken control-" Spike shook his head and said,  
"Those ponces, even back before the hostile takeover by the Slayers would never use bounty hunters. Besides, with all the knew Vampire slayers around it would have been a simple matter to just assign one of them instead." Selene sighed,  
"What do you think then?" Spike leaned back.  
"Well we're dealing with someone who's pretty arrogant, that's for sure, otherwise he would have been more thorough and realized one Fyarl would be no where near enough. He's got lot's of money, and no balls…" there was a pause before he bursted out in defeat,  
"Oh bugger it all, I've got no bleeding idea who it is! Can't you think of anyone who might be behind this?" Selene shook her head.  
"As I said before, the only one I know of who would even conceive of such a notion is on the run himself as well. He's in no position to hire someone to capture me, though he certainly matches your profile. Spike glanced at her.  
"Do you mean the bit about arrogance, or ball less?"  
"Both." Spike gave a mild chuckle.  
"Bloody hell! Well that tears it then. All we can do is wait for the next assassin. You taking first watch or am I?" Selene took jumped at her chance,  
"Why don't we both take one, I still need to here your story." Spike smiled,  
"So where do I start?" Selene asked the question that had been bugging her since the other night.  
"First things first, 'Spike'?" She made sure to accentuate that particular word. Spike grinned.  
"In one unintended reading of my poetry one ponce made a comment about how he'd rather have a railroad Spike shoved through his head then listen to more of my poetry. So about a week after I got vamped I caught up with him and remembered it. I took the saying to heart, and he took it quite literally to the head. Kind of stuck with me afterwards I suppose." Selene made no comment. Now that she had had that answered she decided that she had absolutely no desire to here about his masquerade throughout the ages as a monster, nor was she ready to her about how he became a vampire in the first place, so she asked,  
"How did you get it back? Your soul I mean." Spike let out a breath in relief, obviously out of habit since Aurrelian lungs didn't need oxygen. He wasn't exactly ready to talk about this yet either. "Well there was this guy with flaming arms, swarms of insects, a few giant rats, a banshee singing Yoko Ono singles." Spike shuddered at the last one. "Long story short, I went to Africa, fought, go crushed to the ground through a series of trials, and at the end of the river won my soul back. Selene stared.  
"You got your soul back……intentionally?" "Yeah, what did you think, I was cursed like my gramps?" Selene started to respond, then realized what he said and put two and two together.  
"So Angelus is your sire?!?" Spike snorted.  
"Grand Sire! And don't think for one minute that he had anything to do with the reasons I did it, or that this Aurrelian with a soul gig is some kind of hand me down! I had my own reasons for getting it back!" "And what were those reasons exactly?" Spike suddenly didn't seem to want to continue.  
"They're not important-" Selene crossed her arms,  
"Like hell they aren't! A demonic monster with no conscious actually fighting to get back his sense of guilt and right and wrong?!? It makes no sense! What on god's green earth could have possible promted you to do that?" Spike looked away.  
"You wouldn't understand." "Try me." Spike paused and began saying,  
"It was for a girl." Selene looked disappointed.  
"That's it? You made it sound like I would be disgusted, we all do amazing things for those we love." Spike didn't look convinced. "What was her name?"  
"Here's the kicker." Spike thought. "Buffy-Anne-Summers." A torrent suddenly flooded Selene's mind!  
"The Slayer!!!" Spike nodded. It was impossible! A Vampire in love with a Vampire slayer! They were sworn enemies! They were-and with that thought an image of Michael flashed through her mind. Seeing her dazed expression Spike added,  
"Told you you wouldn't understand." Selene shook her head in realization.  
"I do understand, I understand exactly what it's like to love someone who you're forbidden to love." Spike looked up at her and she took a step forward. "Someone who you were taught was inferior," She continued walking until she was in arms reach, "Someone who you were completely wrong for, and yet completely right for also." Spike let these words sink in and stood up. Standing close he said,  
"What did you ever see in me?" Selene suddenly realized that while she had been talking about Michael it could easily have been misinterpreted. But rather than say this and add more tension when things were just starting to loosen up she went with the flow and answered,  
"I saw a man of truth, honor, and most of all decency amongst a horde of wolves. A man who valued what he thought of himself over what others thought of him." Spike came closer to her than he ever had in the last two nights, her scent was becoming intoxicating. She was becoming uneasy as she looked at the face she had been avoiding the past few nights, the face of her former lover.  
"What do you see now?" He asked, his normal grinning expression gone, and his blue eyes looking almost doe like.  
"What am I doing!?!" both Spike and Selene thought at the same time. Spike sweated out a second or two, afraid of what she might say.  
"A Vampire with a soul." She answered. Spike nodded, so that was it then, that was all she thought of him. Suddenly, surprisingly, she put her hand on his unbeating heart. Spike looked at her in surprise before she continued, "A good man, a brave man." Spike took her hand and looked at her, remembering something he said several years ago.  
"I'm a monster, but you treat me like a man…" It was more than anyone had ever given him…until now. Selene was able to keep her breath shallow but it was pointless at the rate her heart was beating. It suddenly occurred to Spike that since they had met two nights ago he had not even touched her yet. He reached out with his free hand and stroked her pale cheek and allowed his fingers to curl through her hair. Selene remained motionless the whole time, just feeling the soft strokes of his hand. Spike bent down, lowering his face to hers, Selene knew what was coming but she didn't move, she just said,  
"Don't." Spike ignored her though, and kissed her. Selene hesitated, but after her initial moments of shock she kissed back.  
Suddenly they were back on their street in London, kissing and throwing caution to the wind. Neither of them knew how long it went on, it had been a century of passion for each other that they had both thought forgotten and time had stood still, that is until time resumed with a rather loud thump.  
Startled, the two looked too the doorway to see a young man standing there with a look of betrayal on his face. Spike looked and sized him up. His scent was odd, human and yet, not. He was tall with an athletic build, wearing some casual boots, jeans and brown leather jacket. He had medium length dirty blond hair and a classic all American face, square jawed and all, a real pretty boy. Selene looked at the man with shock,  
"Michael." She whispered and suddenly Spike understood the predicament he was in.  
"Oh balls! So what do I do now? I've got a soul, I'm trying to be a good guy now. Do I stay, do I leave?"  
"Michael, let me explain." Selene said hesitatingly. Michael's face suddenly lost its look of betrayal when he focused on Spike, replaced by a face of pure malevolence.  
"This doesn't bode well," Spike thought. Suddenly, to Spike's amazement, Michael began to change. His skin shifted colors, loosing pigment until it became a light gray. His eyes darkened and solidified to become jet black. He gave a tremendous roar, showing off a nasty set of pearly white teeth, and moved like a cannon ball straight towards Spike. He moved far to fast for Spike to even think of reacting and suddenly Spike felt himself crash through a window where he spent an awkward few seconds free falling several stories before reaching the street below. Landing with a hard thud, Spike thought,  
"All right then, bugger wants a fight, bugger e'll get a-" Spike stopped that thought as he opened his eyes and saw Michael standing over him.  
"Oh Bollocks." He stated before he was grabbed and thrown into an alley wall. 


	6. Chapter 6

First things first, the Legal part.

This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.

This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.

This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.

Fool For Her

Chapter 6

I'm Back! I'd like to apologize to everyone for not updating in forever. Over the past few months I've had some serious changes that have kept me from sitting down and really writing. I've been able to read and review some stories, I will never not review stories, but my own story got pushed to the back burner in my life. I'm not making excuses, I'm just letting you all know why I was gone for so long. You're reviews have been very inspiring so I feel I owe you all that much. Currently things are still hectic but they are slowing down, and so over the weekend I was finally able to take some time out to sit down, and write. I hope you all enjoy it. If you recall I mentioned that another vampire hunting badass would make an appearance in this fic at some point, this is it. There's even another one I have planned for the next chapter, but one thing at a time. So withought further ado………

Spike was barely holding on for dear life in the alleyway. The last time he remembered being pummeled so bad was during his torture session with glory. He tried to block but it didn't seem to make much of a difference with the way Michael hit, and the few punches and kicks spike was able to get in were seamlessly shrugged off. Spike didn't know what the bleeding hell this thing was, but he knew for sure that his normal street fight tactics were not going to work. Spike tried quickly to think of a strategy but it proved difficult to do so when being throw over head into a concrete wall. Spike lay stunned on the ground for a few moments and Michael went in for the kill.

Spike knew he didn't have long so as he laid face down on the ground he glanced up and saw a long metal rod. As Michael charged Spike quickly sprang to his feet, grabbed the rod and shoved it forward like a pole arm. It pierced Michael's abdomen and the hybrid roared in pain and surprise, and for a moment spike smiled. That smile faded rather quickly when Michael walked forward, the rod was pushed further through until he was able to grab Spike and toss him yet again.

As he landed Spike saw Michael remove the metal rod and charge him with it. He braced himself for the inevitable in realization that he was not in a condition to dodge. The metal bar pierced his chest cavity and he howled in pain as the rod was impaled both through him and the wall behind him. Most humans or vampires at this point would be thinking, _"Dear go, I've got to get out of here!"_ The only thing occupying Spike's mind as the long piece of metal was sticking through his back, just shy of his spinal column, was _/"He ruined my soding coat!"/_

"BLOODY BASTARD!" Spike screamed, the blood flying from his mouth. Spike gave Michael a knee to the stomach where he had shoved the rod through earlier and Michael keeled over in pain with a tremendous roar.

The vampire took his chance and quickly ripped the rod out of his chest with a gasp and swung it downward like a baseball bat on to the back of Michaels neck. Michael fell to the ground stunned, but quickly recovered and delivered a powerful uppercut which knocked Spike a few feet into the air. He landed onto the concrete ground and looked up to see Michael standing over him holding the metal pole over head with the clear intention of driving it straight down.

Then, just before he moved there was a loud bang and a brief flash on the handle of the rod where a bullet had ricocheted. Michael dropped the weapon and Spike managed to lean up enough to see Selene across the alley holding one of her pistols.

"WOULD BOTH OF YOU, PLEASE, CALM THE HELL DOWN!"

Spike gave an audible exhale whilst Michael gave a small gasp and looked at her with hurt eyes. Selene had never shot at him before.

"Michael, please change back and listen to what we have to say. William if you'd be kind enough to collect yourself and sit up."

To this Spike raised his hand and gave a rather ungentlemanly gesture(which, luckily, Michael didn't see), before pulling himself to a sitting position and rising to his feet.

By the time Spike had managed to stand Selene was already standing beside them and Michael had transformed back to his human guise. He glanced at Spike with red in his eyes and said,

"Selene. What's going on?" Selene took a breath and prepared to speak.

Then all hell broke loose. Suddenly there was a loud rumbling of nearby automatic fire and the three ducked instantly as bullets passed over head. They sprinted to the side of the alley into a small niche and caught a glimpse of at least three figures at the end of the alleyway firing at them. The group of three leaned against a wall and found a relatively safe position from the gunfire.

"GOOD GOD, WHEN WILL IT END!" Spike shouted over the loud cacophony of their attackers.

"HEADS UP!" Michael shouted. And sure enough the other too glanced up and saw that on the opposite building a good three more had taken position. Selene tossed two of her pistols to Michael and Spike and the six fired simultaneously. Spike was the first to feel a bullet pass through his shoulder and Selene the second through her side. Odly enough there was not the stinging sensation and death that accompanied UV rounds, they felt like ordinary lead? Curious. After a quick mess the three attackers from above dropped to the ground and it was clear from there attire they were not deathdealers, or even vampires but ordinary street clothed humans it seemed. Although the last had slightly blue skin so they were still more than they appeared. With the immediate threat gone Michael said,

"Keep the others distracted, I'll take care of them." Selene nodded and Spike snorted,

"And how do you propose to do that mate, your not exactly bullet proof I see." Michael ignored this and leapt straight up, several stories up to reach the top. Spike just stared, "But he can leap tall buildings in a single bound I see." Even he could only jump two stories at the most. Spike caught himself and proceeded firing around the corner with Selene.

From the rooftops Michael glanced over the side to see that they had missed two more of their assailants, making a total of five enemies, all apparently mortal in ragged clothes. Michael bent his hind legs and leapt down, straight behind the attackers. Oblivious to the hybrid, the first in the center suffered a broken neck while the second one was punched through the chest. The other three turned and fired at him but he simply punched another in the face crushing his skull. One tried to run and Michael pounced on him, probably severing his spine. Michael turned and saw that the other one had taken off running and had already sprinted into another alley. Whilst a human might have let it go Michael was a predator and he took off after it before even checking on Selene or her friend. Had he remembered the control the Monks in Tibet had taught him he might have thought better of it, but he still had much to learn. So with the speed of a cheetah he practically soared after the last assassin. The human had an extremely large running start, but his scent was fresh, and Michael craved blood.

Selene and Spike both took a look around the corner to find the remains of their attackers strewn about near the end of the alleyway. In disgust they both surveyed the remains. Selene looked around,

"Michael?" she spoke, and received no response. She tried again in vain.

"He must've chased off after another one." Spike suggested. Selene nodded. "Your right he'll probably be back soon."

"Yeah…" Spike replied gazing at the corpses at their feat. He cleared his throat. It accured to him that it might be best to take advantage of the situation and run like hell. It occurred to him that he might be able to reach the airport before Michael got back, but the remembered how fast Michael was and thought better of it, if he was going to see that bugger again he sure as hell was going to make sure Selene was in the room at all times. Suddenly Spike caught a scent he remembered all to well and turned to the opposite end of the alleyway. A short red haired man in casual clothing came running towards them.

"Wolf boy? What are you doing here?" Oz arrived in front of them, and it seemed despite his pace he still had plenty of breath.

"I came as soon as I could, but judging by that," he indicated the bodies, "I came too late. I got a lead on that Fyarl demon from earlier." This caught Selene's attention who was busy examining one of the automatic pistols the men where carrying.

"So talk." Spike said with post battle angst. Oz started,

"A little while after you left the club I spotted a demon in the crowd. Not uncommon but I still check them out when they come in. So after the band was done playing I started up a conversation. He was pretty cool with the fact I knew he was a demon, and he talked pretty openly. The kicker was when I saw this," Oz pulled something from his pocket and held it up for the two Vampires to see. Spike grasped the small ring and examined it more closely. All he could think was, why me?

"Bugger that!" he declared. Selene gave a sigh as well,

"The Order of Teraka, wonderful." Spike glanced at the bodies and knelt down to one to confirm his suspicions,

"We have a winner." He stated as he checked the left hand to find a matching ring on the finger.

"So what happened with this demon?" Selene asked? Oz continued,

"Turns out he was a new recruit so he revealed his target pretty quick. He said that his target was some kind of mutated werewolf. And they'd sent out a Fyarl earlier." Selene's eyes widened,

"Michael!" Spike snarled in understanding.

"The buggers probably knew you were here for days. They were just waiting for your pup to come home. The damn Fyarl was just supposed to take us out of the equation long enough for them to get the drop on him. Not like it would have done much good a coure." Spike made this last comment in observation of the destruction he'd caused.

"But the Fyarl wasn't part of the order, he didn't have a ring." Selene said. Spike nodded,

"He wasn't, but his Tamer probably is." Suddenly all the pieces fell into place.

"There's more." Oz commented.

"What more?" Selene asked.

"Apparently after you took care of the Fyarl they got knew orders. Shoot and run."

"A trap!" Selene realized.

"Run where?" Spike asked? Oz shook his head,

"He just said they were supposed to run. Didn't matter where."

"Great, how the bleeding hell did you get all this information?" Spike asked. Oz just shook his and replied,

"Some demons just can't hold their liquor. He'll wake up tomorrow without a clue where he is. Set me back a few but it beats just buying the information." Spike cursed the damn situation.

"What now. The scents to cold, I can't find them now." To this Oz lifted his nostrils to the sky and sniffed quietly.

"I can." They took off quickly in the direction Michael had gone.

Michael was impressed with his quarry. They were almost as fast as he was. But it was clear from the perspiration in the air that this creature was running on adrenaline and it wouldn't be long. He knew the technical term was "demon", but he couldn't bring himself to use it. He could accept there were Vampires, he could accept there were Werewolves, and he could even except that he was a hybrid between the two, but he could not accept that the forces of hell actually walked the earth, although in time he would realize this was far too general of a way to think.

Back to the present however, his prey had just finally run out of stamina and had decided to take refuge in an old where house. Michael took to the rooftop. There was a glass window on the top. He watched as his prey looked around to check and make sure no one had entered and at the perfect moment Michael broke through the glass and landed behind the man. He was corpulent, balding with a mustache, un kept jeans and coat, and a single horn coming out of his forehead. The "demon" looked at Michael with terror and backed away slowly. Michael controlled the urge to kill and asked,  
"Why did you attack us." The man's lips quivered and spoke,

"I'm part of an assassination guild, we were hired-" Michael cut him off,

"By who?" The man continued,

"We don't know. Only the motherhouse has that information. We just take the mission." Michael growled and the man began to urinate.

"You'd better have more than that!" The man suddenly screamed,

"Don't kill me! I can tell you where the mother house is. You can work it out with them!"

"WHERE!" The man began to speak again but suddenly there was a large crunch and he simply stared forward. After a moment he looked down in surprise to see a long arm protruding through his chest holding his green hued heart still beating. His species could live even with their heart removed, until there heart was destroyed. As if in answer to this, the hand lifted itself upward until he was looking straight at his heart…and squeezed. The heart burst like a melon and he disintegrated almost instantly. The hand retreated back to the shadows, surprisingly free of any gore or goo.

"Who the hell is there!" Michael shouted, he had just lost his information and he was very, very pissed off. Even the calming techniques of Tibet were not going to help this son of a bitch now. He had almost lost Selene tonight, perhaps in more ways than one and he was tired and hurt.

There was a laugh, a chilling laugh. Suddenly Michael's anger dissipated. There was only that deep, cold, chilling laugh. Which probably wasn't the best way to describe it, but words couldn't begin to define how intimidating it sounded.

Then, from the shadows a figure appeared. Michael hadn't realized it until now but with his enhanced eyesight and other senses he should have been able to see the figure before now, but he hadn't! Why?

In any case the figure was now in plain view and Michael found himself wishing that he himself wasn't. The figure was over six feet tall, taller than Michael. The first thing Michael noticed was his unique attire. A long Duster coat fit his lean form tightly and fell down to his ankles with a large cowboy like hat atop his head. That was strange enough, but even more strange was the fact that both these items he adorned were blood red in color. Underneath the coat he where a seemingly well tailored black suit with an old red tie, on his hands he wore white velvet gloves, and on his feet he wore large black leather ridding boots. His hair was shoulder length, jet black, and very unruly as it hung in different looks across his face all around. His face was long, pointed, and very pale. His noise was a pointed hook, and his eyes were covered in orange tinted spectacles. Michael supposed that he could have been a decent looking individual, if not for that smile. The mouth of the man in red was open, with teeth clenched in the most disgusting and scary smile Michael had ever seen. Not just because of the large canines he sported which identified him as a vampire, but just the entire shape. His teeth were perfect, but that only seemed to add to the horror of it.

Suddenly the mouth closed and the individual frowned. He lifted one of his gloved hands to his spectacles and tipped them down slightly.

"Oh my god…" Michael whispered when he saw the man's eyes. Selene's Vampiric eyes where certainly creepy, but they were also strangely seductive in there own way. There was none of that in the two crazy red orbs that stared at him like twin red suns waiting to explode. They screamed one thing, death. Mercifully, the glasses where tipped back up to hide the man's eyes. Michael sighed for a moment, before the creature spoke.

"GARBAGE." It declared. Oh god that voice. Michael's immortal heart stopped momentarily when he heard the voice. It was as though the devil himself had just spoken. Michael realized in that moment that yes, the dark forces did indeed walk the earth. Much to Michaels dismay the thing spoke again, continually starring at him.

"No. You are lower than the garbage I hunt everyday. You are lower than pond scum, in all my years I have never seen something as vile or revolting as you!" Michael tried desperately, but all the teachings he had learned where forgotten once again. For the first time he could remember since he was bitten he was truly afraid. He had of course been scared since that fateful night but there were three sets of instincts within him now, three sets of desires and fears, the vampire, the wolf, and the man. But now as he stared at the red clad devil before him all three of sides of his instincts were scared beyond words. The vampire was scarred and intimidated, almost as if it had met something higher up on the food chain, as though a house cat had discovered a mountain lion. The Wolf in him was afraid as though it had met a natural predator. And the human in him was just plain out terrified at what stood before him. It continued speaking.

"As though the Zyveran scum's blood isn't weak enough, they actually believe they can increase their strength by diluting it even further! And with dog blood no less! You are the most pathetic excuse of a walking immortal that has or ever will be! There is nothing on this earth that would bring me more pleasure than to gut you where you stand and watch you writhe in agony on a pike!" Michael swallowed involuntarily. Then the thing took a step forward. And Michael took an involuntary step back.

"You may not realize it. But you are the luckiest scum on this planet tonight. No harm can come to you, as my master has declared." Now that that had been said Michael finally had the courage to say,

"Oh god, what are you?" The creature smiled once again and said.

"You're lucky I even acknowledge what you say scum. My name is Alucard. I am a Vampire, a true Nosferatu. Unlike those blue eyed Zyveran posers. I can crush you with a thought if I desire it, and believe me, I do. More than anything, but as I said, my master has given me my orders." With this the creature moved with lightning speed that far surpassed Michaels and hoisted him up by the throat. Michael found himself unable to even struggle as the darkness crept in and his vision faded.

"I promise you scum," Alucards voice continued, "If you survive the ordeal that follows you then one day, someday, I will hunt you down like the dog you masquerade as, rip your lungs out through your arm pits and feed them too you long before I grant you your death." Then the world went black.

Selene, Spike, and Oz arrived moments later. Oz was the first to speak.

"The scent ends here. I don't know about you guys but…it's not like a smell anything but, I feel something evil came through here." The other two nodded, they didn't know what could possibly leave such a dark trail behind, but it was like nothing they had ever felt before.

"Here doggy, come to mommy and daddy!" Spike yelled, there was no answer but his own echo. "Well the tears it, he's definitely not here." Selene looked at Oz her head,

"If the scent ends here then where is Michael?" Oz shook his head,

"I don't know. Something must have taken him." Spike cursed again,

"What, did they just fly away holding onto a six foot tall gorilla." Oz shook his head again,

"There isn't even a trail leaving this place. Michael was here, a demon…something else. But I think the demon died, disintegrated, and then Michael and whatever else was in her just vanished." Selene gave a sigh,

"Now what. We have to find him." Oz just shrugged.

"I suggest, we follow up our one lead." To this Spike was holding the ring he had looted from the Teraka assassin. Oz and Selene starred.

"You want to walk into the motherhouse of the guild of assassins and ask them who hired them to kill us!" Oz thought about it a moment and said,

"Bold…why not." The three looked at each other and took off. A thought occurred to Selene.

"Does anyone actually know where the Motherhouse is?" Spike nodded,

"I do."

"From when you hired them to kill Buffy?" Oz chimmed in. Selene looked with surprise at Spike. _/"Bloody Wolf boy!"/_ Spike thought.

"I thought you said you were in love with the Slayer?" Oz realized his mistake and said,

"They've kinda had a love-hate relationship over the years." Selene asked,

"But you love each other now William?" Spike looked over and nodded,

"Yes, well, I do, she does too she even said it…once. Well, more than that if you count Red's spell. And there's the robot-" Selene's eyebrow's shot up.

"Robot?" She asked. Spike kicked himself.

"You know, forget the last part."

"Happily." Spike kicked himself once again. Sometimes he missed being evil, at least then he actually got vacation time. And oh yeah coming back to the mother land was bloody brilliant. It was enough to make him want to brood!

Budapest

2004 A.D.

Integra Wingates Helsing stood at the drop point patiently, almost patiently, her long platinum hair framing her tanned straight face. Her clear round glasses hung suspended on her nose around her neon blue eyes. The suit she wore hid her voluptuous figure quite well. She truly was a beautiful woman, but she spent an enormous amount of time hiding that fact, as well as hating it. She glanced at her wrist watch, it was almost time. She looked out onto the streets of Budapest, the rain falling, never-ending and felt her nerves get to her. She was worried about Alucard. Certainly she was not worried in the sense that he would die or be hurt, as if he could be. And she most definitely could care less even if he did, he was a vampire through and through and meant absolutely nothing to her(or at least that's what she told herself). Nevertheless she had sent Alucard on an assignment he was most definitely not used too, capture and detain. Moreover she had sent him to capture something that would only fuel his undead hatred for impure vampires further than she could imagine. She had been very clear that Mr. Corvin was not too be harmed, but if anyone could twist her words to his own will, Alucard could.

Over the years she had actually come to understand how he thought to a degree, something which gave her nightmares, and it allowed her, to an extent, to anticipate his actions and behaviors to the point that she had at least some measure of personal control over him. She had no confusions about loyalty or trust though, Alucard would turn on her if he the ability too and she knew it. With that thought a cold dark presence filled the room behind her and she shut out her thoughts to keep him from peeking as he had a habit of doing. She didn't need to look behind her, she knew who it was. And she also knew he would not have returned unless he had succeeded in his mission.

"I've been waiting for a while Alucard." She said in her normal monotone.

"Forgive me my master, I did bring him, and he is relatively untouched."

_/"Relatively?"/_ At that she looked at the beaten body beneath her and gave Alucard an accusing glance.

"I did of course have to force him to come along, but I'm sure that most of the bruises came from the Teraka." Integra doubted that very much, but she couldn't prove it, and she had expected as much anyway. He was alive and stable, and that was enough.

"And the Zyvera woman accompanying him?"

"Was not present. Your ploy worked master. They will assume that it was a member of Teraka which the Zyvera hired and there will be no connection to us." Alucard said, his voice clearly revealing his dissatisfaction at not being able to kill anything.

"Good, ah here they come." Integra stated as three black vans arrived in the parking lot outside the designated building. Out of the vans two troops of black leather clad Vampires hoped out and waltzed straight towards the front door with automatic weapons in hand. Integra smiled, a rarity. If she should choose to have these vermin eliminated they could have brought there entire clan and all the military fire power they wished and it would have made no difference whatsoever. If anything it would have been more fun for Alucard. As they approached Alucard gave a small quite growl only Integra could hear. She glanced at the vampire and said,

"Be nice."

The head death dealer, a tall black man with scarring across his face stepped forward to see the impossible. The Hybrid they had been tracking down was lying on the ground, battered and bruised almost beyond recognition. He would heal of course back to perfect health, but how was this possible? He glanced up at the red clad individual, stunned at his height and felt a trickle of fear running down his spine. The red clad vampire smiled a horrible smile and said,

"Boo."

Slowly the man reached down and took hold of the hybrid and began dragging him outside with the help of two other death dealers. Another, more finely dressed Zyvera who did not appear at all a warrior stepped foreword and laid down a black case and said,

"His lordship Marcus thanks you for your services and hopes that this alliance between our clan and the Hellsing organi-" Integra cut him off.

"There is no such alliance and do not think otherwise." Integra opened the case and looked at the US dollars and Euros it was stuffed with and, satisfied, closed it and placed it back down.

"Inform your lord Marcus that what was done today was done out of necessity. In the future the Hellsing organization will not tolerate such dealings ever again. Do I make myself clear?" Alucard grinned.

"Crystal." The Zyvera man said. And with that they took off. In contrast to their slow walk to come inside, they almost sprinted out of the building.

Integra turned on her heel and walked back inside towards her hotel room.

"Do we now make deals with trash like them master?" Integra sighed.

"Alucard you know full well I despise it as much as you do. But the fact is that now that her Majesty no longer funds our organization we must seek outside funding." The Helsing family itself had a substantial amount of income and funds itself, but those funds were difficult to reach without attracting attention. Integra was a wanted individual, and even a slight withdrawal could send up flag and give away her position.

"Still master, what would your father say if he saw you like this." A flash of anger enveloped Integra, though she didn't show it. It was time to put him back into place.

"Would you prefer instead that we request assistance from the watchers?" Alucard lost his grin.

"Perhaps you remember the last time our organization had some slight financial trouble. There were terms I remember for the assistance. My family wouldn't kill you…remind me, what was the arrangement." Alucard quietly answered.

"I was bound and sealed in a basement for a minimum of two generations of the Helsing line." _/"The bitch will pay for this humiliation later"/_ Alucard thought.

"Good, I'm glad we're in agreement Alucard." She arrived at her room and took a seat at the small desk in her suite. "Trust me," She continued, "Those vermin have their's coming to them, you can be sure. Currently we cannot afford a full scale war with them, but very soon there so called "Coven" will be broken and then you may have all the fun you seek with them Alucard." The promise of a hunt was enough to water his mouth.

"Then if that is all I bid you goodnight my master." He made to leave.

"Just a moment Alucard, I have one more assignment for you." Alucard gritted his teeth, she had better be giving him something fun.

"Hunting?" She shook her head.

"No, delivery." Were it not for the control art restriction system which bound him in place Alucard would have gladly ripped off her head! The great Alucard reduced to capture and courier missions, it was far too much!

"As you wish, master." Even he could not control the clear anger that came through his voice.

"Oh calm down Alucard, you don't even know what it entails." Alucard didn't need to know, or so he thought. Integra handed him a paper and he glanced over it and saw the name of who he was delivering the information too, along with a picture. He grinned, a real grin.

"I forgive you for earlier, master." His voice was now its normal craziness.

"Thank you Alucard. But listen to me carefully. He is no longer a bottom feeder. He now holds a position of power. Power not even we can compare with…yet. I know you would like nothing more than to let loose but we cannot allow a conflict between us and that corporation. You may intimidate, inspire fear, gloat, whatever the hell you want. But as you already know you cannot kill him, and more importantly you cannot cause him any real harm that could be taken as an act of war. Do I make myself clear?"

"Of course, master."

"I mean it Alucard."

"As do I." With that Alucard's form shifted out of focus into a red light that faded out very quickly. He was gone.

Integra smiled again. All was going according to plan. If things continued as they were her organization would once again be something to be feared by the creatures that stalked the night, and an entire clan would sink to it's knees in a matter of days.

Los Angeles

2004 A.D.

Angel sat in his office at Wolfram and Hart with darkness all around him. Behind him, medieval weapons from all over the world were displayed. His desk was simply adorned with functional accessories with no truly personal items at all. The atmosphere was truly murky. This was his vacation. If Cordelia had still been alive she would have broken down the door and forced him to go out dancing or something. Cordelia, he smiled a moment. The truth was he needed this. He needed to brood, needed to dwell on the past, it was the only way he'd truly be redeemed. It wasn't fun, but it wasn't supposed to be. No one understood that. It was so tempting to just stop sometimes. Give up, let it go and enjoy life. Maybe that was why Spike didn't have to. His life had been a hellhole every since Sunnydale, there wasn't all that much to enjoy in his life really. Angel had even found himself brooding less and less. That was how low he'd really sunk. That was why he needed this vacation, to make up for time spent elsewhere. Suddenly in the center of the room a bright red light appeared. The light turned into a large pentagram in the middle of the floor.

_/"Oh God no."/_ Angel thought. His mouth dried out instantly. From the symbol a tall figure clad in red rose up and regarded Angel as man might regard an insect. The figure grinned an insane grin and said,

"Hello Angelus." Angel searched and found the words,

"Hello Alucard." Vacation time was over.


End file.
